His One and Only Weakness
by WorldPeace9696
Summary: Olivia Swan is Bella's twin sister. It's her senior year & she has already been accepted into her dream school, Juilliard. All she has left to do is keep her grades up until graduation. It seems easy, but not when she has to keep her sister out of trouble. As if that's not enough, a hot tempered sexy shape-shifter imprints on her and suddenly her life becomes even crazier (Paul/OC)
1. When Fairytales Are Real

_**Author's Note:** Hey readers! I wasn't planning on writing a Twilight fanfic, but I saw New Moon again over the weekend (it has been a few years since I've seen it) and I got the sudden urge to start writing one! Paul is a tough, stubborn, and temperamental character and he is pretty sexy (or at least from they way Alex Meraz portrayed him in the movie haha) and that's why I wanted to write a story about him! Oh, and also because I am so in love with the whole idea of imprinting. I mean, I do agree that it's a little creepy at times like how a shape-shifter can imprint on a little kid, but they can start out as friends and eventually become something more so it's not that creepy. I think "imprinting" in the Twilight universe is so cute, romantic, and interesting. Yes, I'm totally obsessed with it!_

 _I wanted to post this as soon as I finished writing it so I wasn't able to read over my chapter and edit it a bunch of times like I usually do so I apologize if there are any mistakes. I promise I'll go over and fix whatever needs to be fixed later on!_

 _Btw, if you want to imagine what my OC Olivia Swan looks like, I kind of want to imagine her to look like Odeya Rush. That's just my preference, but if you imagine her to look different, I encourage you to imagine her that way :) Whichever makes you happier!_

 _I hope you all enjoy reading this first chapter. Sometimes it's hard to give characters their own personalities when writing in the beginning, but I think I'll eventually get the hang of it._ _I'll try to write the next chapter soon. This is the third fanfic I have up right now and I don't want to become one of those people who keep writing new stories and never finish them so I'll need to start writing my ass off lol. Anyway, thank you for taking the time to read my first chapter and hopefully I'll see you in the next one!_

 _Please leave a REVIEW, follow, and favorite! Thank you._

 _-Jane_

* * *

 **Chapter 1: When Fairytales Are Real**

March 2006

I had wished that Bella had never met Edward and now that he was gone, I wished he was back. There had been a small party at the home of the Cullens that had been planned for Bella and I on our birthday a few months ago. I had declined the invitation and celebrated the special day with my dad instead so I never understood why the Cullens suddenly left the next day because I wasn't there to witness what happened, but I never asked. Bella was heartbroken and there was no need to pry any further and hurt her even more.

Maybe it would have been a good idea for Bella to have spent our birthday together with dad and I rather than the Cullens. It had been our first birthday apart and honestly, it was nothing interesting. No offense to what my dad prepared for me. The dinner was nice, but it could have been a tiny bit nicer.

Oh, and speaking of my dad. Yes, I actually called my dad, _dad_ unlike Bella who liked to call our dad Charlie (of course not to his face). It was always weird to me, but I sort of understood why. She wasn't used to him being around us that she wanted to just call him by his first name. Even though our parents separated when we were younger, I had never stopped loving my dad. I think I skyped him at least once a week when Bella and I were still in Arizona. He was a good man and the two of us got along really well. He was a bit awkward, but thankfully I wasn't because I had gotten my mother's outgoing personality and so that made our relationship pretty normal. However, Bella was very similar to our dad in the awkward sense so when the two of them were together, things became very uncomfortable. However, they did get a little used to each other ever since Bella and I moved here to Forks last year. It was just Edward who seemed to get in the way of the new development of my sister and dad's relationship and he was also getting in the way of my special bond with her.

Bella and I were fraternal twins. We were basically nothing alike. We didn't look like each other and we didn't have similar interests. Bella had our mom's reddish brown hair and she had the same brown eyes as our dad. On the other hand, I had gotten our mom's blue eyes and our dad's dark hair. People often thought we weren't twins and that I was her little sister. This annoyed me at times because technically, I really was her little sister. She was older than me by only a few minutes, but she had always rubbed that small fact in my face as we grew up. Starting from our childhood, Bella was often like an older sister to me. She made sure to take care of me first and she was always supportive. It was like she was the most unselfish person in the world.

Bella and I were total opposites. To explain it in short, I was the "girly" one and she was the "tomboy." I enjoyed carrying conversations and she preferred listening. Sometimes, it was hard to know what she was thinking, but she was still my twin sister and so I could figure her out while others couldn't. I knew her well, or I thought I had. After Edward and his family suddenly left Forks, she entered a state of depression and became a whole different person. It was like I didn't know her anymore. She would sit in a table alone during lunch, she would lock herself in her room and stare out the window, and she wouldn't talk to me. Well, she did, but it wasn't like before when we were actually like normal sisters. Dad was worried and so was I. What had Edward done to her?

Remember how I said a few lines ago that Bella was like the most unselfish person in the world? Well, that was exactly what I had thought until I realized that it wasn't necessarily true. There was _one_ thing that she could be selfish about and that was love. This is where Edward comes in. The first day she met him, she had complained to me about how rude he was and then a few weeks later they were friends, and then suddenly...BAM! They were going out together! She started hanging out with him a lot and it became hard to see her face even though we lived in the same house.

I didn't know why, but I didn't like Edward Cullen at all. Okay, maybe I did know why. It had to do with the reason why Bella had ended up in the hospital in a critical condition almost a year ago. She had tumbled down a flight of stairs and had fallen out of a window, but she had been injured so badly. It just didn't make sense to me. There was something strange about Edward and his family. Another reason why I didn't like the Cullens or specifically Edward was because I felt like I no longer had my sister. She preferred him over me. I knew that I was being dramatic, but I had never been in love with someone before so I couldn't understand how Edward could be more important than me, her own sister. But apparently, love was strong and it could also be scary. Watching my sister's heartbroken condition made me eager about finding my own love someday, but it also made me worry. Love was so complex and it could make someone become extremely vulnerable.

I felt bad. Horrible really. Edward leaving had changed Bella. My sister was so different now. She hadn't ever been an outgoing person, but the state she was currently in was so concerning. She was silent throughout the day. The only time I seemed to hear her voice was when she screamed during her nightmares. She still went to school consistently and never skipped class, but it was obvious that everyone at Forks High knew what was going on. After all, the abrupt decision of the Cullens' to move out of Forks had affected us all. It seemed like this dull small-town was becoming even duller without their presence. There was no one interesting to gossip about anymore and that was a big deal for our school where everyone knew _everyone._

Recently, Bella started getting a little more "normal." She started joining the rest of our friends at the table during lunch and she had even gone out to the movies with Jessica and I a few nights ago. Oh, Lord. That night had been shocking. While I had walked a little down the street on my own to get in the red truck and to drive it over to the front of the theater for the convenience of the two, Bella had approached a motorcycle gang and had gotten on with one of the bikers. When I pulled up to the front of the theater and saw Jessica standing alone, I had freaked out and yelled at her for letting my sister go so carelessly. She agreed that she should have prevented Bella from going and apologized, but that didn't mean I was going to let Bella off on her crazy behavior. After that incident, I had kept my eyes on her. Thankfully, it seemed like she wasn't going to be doing anything crazy again like that, but like always, I was wrong.

I hadn't been so welcoming to the idea when Bella told me she wanted our friend Jacob to fix an old motorcycle she had bought, but after hearing how much she wanted to take her mind off things, I figured why not. This was how Bella ended up going over to La Push every day after school to see Jacob. I even went with her on some days. I was glad because Bella was getting better and I had a feeling it was because of Jacob. I knew he liked her, but my sister was obviously friend-zoning him. She still wasn't over Edward.

When the next month approached, things quickly became bad again. Jacob wouldn't answer any of Bella's calls. It was like he was ignoring her and she was starting to get frustrated and also somewhat anxious. She had driven over to to his house and had finally seen him. When she came back, she looked sad. She told me he changed. He was no longer the Jacob Black that she knew. He cut his hair short and got a tattoo. She believed it was Sam Uley's influence. Apparently he had said that he couldn't be friends with her anymore. Now she was depressed again. She had been rejected and left alone for the second time. First Edward and now Jacob.

One day I saw Bella heading into the woods with her orange backpack. I decided to follow her. I wanted to know where the hell she was going. It hadn't really been my plan to stalk her, but I was doing exactly that. I had a small warning going off in my head that with how depressed she was, there was a possibility that when she entered the woods, she would never come back. I didn't know if she was _that_ depressed, but I didn't want to take a chance.

When Bella stopped in the middle of the yellow meadow, I briefly forgot that I needed to be silent and cringed when I heard a twig snapping under my foot. Bella spun around looking clearly jumpy. "Olivia! You scared me. What are you doing here?"

"I-I-Well," I stuttered not knowing how to respond. "I wanted to join you."

She narrowed her eyes. "I'm pretty sure if you wanted to join me, you would have let me know that you were following me the whole time."

I sighed. "You're right. The truth is I-"

I stopped in the middle of my sentence and Bella frowned. "The truth is what?"

I couldn't breathe properly as I panicked. Bella noticed that I was staring directly behind her with wide eyes and she slowly turned around. The dark skinned man with long dreadlocks and bright crimson eyes smiled at us creepily from across the field. My survival instincts kicked in and told me that this man was dangerous and that we had to get away from him. His eye color frightened me. Were they colored contacts? Who wore red contacts on a normal day like today? It wasn't freaking Halloween.

"Bella," he said her name.

Wait, he knew her?

"Laurent."

And she knew him?

In a split second, the man named Laurent appeared in front of us. He was now standing only a few feet away. I gasped in shock.

"And who is this?" he asked curiously.

"My friend," Bella responded in a strong voice to cover up the fact that she was lying.

He breathed in the air before smiling again. "The smell of her blood tells me otherwise."

Okay. No way were those colored contacts. This man was not even human. He could smell my blood. That wasn't possible. How was that possible?

"You must be her sister," he stated with a laugh. He turned to face Bella and his smile was gone now. "We need to talk. I went to visit the Cullens but their house is empty. I'm surprised they left you behind. Aren't you sort of a pet of theirs?"

"Yeah, you could say that."

"Do the Cullens visit often?" he questioned.

Bella hesitated for a brief moment before answering, "Yeah absolutely. All the time. I'll tell them that you stopped by. I probably shouldn't tell Edward because he's pretty protective," she lied and I understood why. It was to protect us. I hoped Laurent wouldn't catch on, but I had to admit, Bella wasn't a good liar.

"But he's far away, isn't he?"

"Why are you here?" Bella asked, changing the subject.

"I came as a favor to Victoria. She asked me to find out if you were still under the protection of the Cullens. Victoria feels that it is only fair to kill Edward's mate given he killed hers. An eye for an eye."

I had no idea what he was talking about, but it was scary to hear that Edward had _killed_ someone. What the hell was going on? Was my sister in love with a murderer?

"Edward would know who did it. He would come after you."

"I don't think he will. After all, how much could you mean to him if he left you here unprotected? Victoria won't be happy about me killing you, but I can't help myself. You're so mouthwatering," Laurent said.

"Please don't. I mean you've helped us," Bella tried to reason with him.

"Shh. Don't be afraid," he stopped her from talking. "I'm doing you a kindness. Victoria plans on killing you slowly, painfully whereas I'll make it very quick." He inhaled her scent. "I promise. You will feel nothing." His hand reached towards her face barely grazing it as he spoke.

"Please, at least let my sister go," Bella begged.

"I'm sorry darling, but I must take care of all evidence."

When Bella's eyes met mine, I realized that this was it. Today was going to be my final day. We were going to die.

"I'm sorry, Olivia," Bella whispered.

My throat felt dry, but I managed to whisper back. "It's okay. I love you."

"I love you too," she said back in a shaky voice.

Laurent raised his hand upward preparing to strike and kill us. I closed my eyes fearing for the worst. I could feel my heart rapidly beating against my chest and was worried that it would actually fall out. Another second passed and nothing happened. Seeing how fast he could move, I was pretty sure he would have been able to kill us already. Why hadn't he done so?

"I don't believe it," I heard Laurent murmur.

A low threatening growl disturbed the silence after he spoke.

I opened my eyes and observed the red eyed man. He looked _scared_. If he was scared of whatever animal was standing behind us, then how scared would Bella and I be?

I turned around and saw an enormous black wolf slowly coming out of the woods. It stalked forward and its sharp teeth showed as he continued to growl. Oh, great. Now Bella and I were trapped between two killers. At this moment, I didn't know what to fear more: the gigantic wolf or the red eyed man.

Suddenly, four more wolves emerged from the trees and formed a line behind the black wolf, which I assumed was their alpha. These wolves were unbelievably huge. Wolves weren't supposed to be that big! My mouth opened in awe as I momentarily forgot that they were potentially dangerous. Although they were big and scary, they were also beautiful creatures. As an animal lover, I couldn't help but admire them. They were all different colors: silver, brown, ash, and russet. As they came forward with their bodies crouched and ready to attack, I quickly remembered that I needed to be concerned about what was to happen.

Laurent bolted across the meadow without warning and the wolves sprung into action, leaping into the air and chasing after him. Their loud snarls and thunderous thumping as they ran across the field caused the ground to shake. I froze with fear as I saw the russet colored wolf stopping and looking directly at Bella before also joining in the action. He ran into the other side of the forest with unusual speed and disappeared.

"What the hell was that?" I screeched when I finally found my voice. "Who was that man? _What_ was he?"

"I'll explain in the car. Come on."

When I didn't move from my spot, Bella grabbed my hand and pulled, forcing me away from the scene. We dashed out of the treeline and approached the parked red truck. I had never been so happy to see that large tacky old car before.

"I'm driving," she declared.

"I'm not complaining," I said as I threw her the keys from my pocket.

* * *

During the car ride, Bella told me everything from the beginning until now. I didn't know whether or not to be feeling relieved. I felt relieved to know that not all vampires were dangerous because the Cullens certainly weren't, but I also felt horrified to know that vampires even existed.

"You weren't supposed to find out. You shouldn't have ever found out."

"Why not?" I asked. "You were going to keep this huge secret away from me forever?"

"Yes, for your safety and also theirs."

"What do you mean?"

"People can't find out about vampires. They can't coexist with humans. There's a rule that humans can't know about them. If they do and the Volturi find out, they will kill those people," she said.

"Who are the Volturi?"

"They're vampires in high power who watch and control the actions of their own kind to prevent humans from ever finding out about them. If they knew that you found out, they would kill you."

Oh, wow. This was definitely some serious business. I noticed how Bella's hands shook as she moved the steering wheel.

"What about those wolves? Do you know about them?" I asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"No," Bella shook her head. "I didn't even know they existed until today."

Well, that wasn't good.

* * *

Bella bursted into our home and looked for our dad. He and his friend Harry Clearwater were in the kitchen washing their fishing gear. "Dad we saw them!" she yelled.

"What's the matter?" he asked, interrupting her.

"-In the woods," she continued to say.

"What do you mean 'in the woods'? Girls, what the hell were you two doing out in the woods?" Dad asked with a frown. "Anyway, what is it about the bears?"

"They aren't bears. They're wolves. They're these huge wolves!" I threw my hands into the air as I spoke. I felt frustrated because I was failing to describe them. I didn't know _how_ to describe them. They were like nothing I had ever seen in my whole life.

"Are you sure about that?" Harry asked.

"Yes, we just saw them. They were after...something," Bella replied trying her best to not give anything else away.

"Wolves...You saw them?" Dad asked with an uncertain look.

We nodded.

"All right. Well, Harry. Feel like going hunting? Can you get some of your guys together?"

"Sure, yeah. I'll-I'll just…" Harry trailed off as he left the kitchen to make some calls.

Bella looked like she had just figured something out, but she kept it to herself. I would ask her later.

"I should go to the station."

"Dad, you should-Yeah, you should go," Bella quickly said.

Our dad began walking out of the kitchen when he spun around to face us once again. "Can you just...stay in the house?" he asked and the question was mostly aimed towards Bella.

When Bella didn't answer, he turned to me with a serious look. "Olivia, keep an eye on her would you?"

"Yeah, I will." I nodded. Now that I was aware of what kind of crazy things existed in the world, I would definitely be keeping an eye out.

* * *

A week went by and it was now Saturday again. I saw Bella getting ready to leave the house as I finished washing the dishes after having a late lunch. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to see Jacob," she replied.

"Tell me the rest."

"What?"

"Bella, I've known you my whole life. I know you're not telling me everything."

"Okay, fine." Bella sighed. "I had a dream last night and I think...Jacob knows something about the wolves."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not exactly sure yet. I'm planning on finding out. That's why I'm going over to La Push right now."

"I'm coming with you," I declared and she didn't even bother to say no. I was in on the secret now and she seemed to be accepting about it.

* * *

Bella knocked on the front door and Billy answered it.

"I need to see Jacob," she immediately said.

 _Wow. Way to be nice, Bella,_ I thought.

"He's not in," Billy answered.

"I'm sorry, I really need to see him," she replied and surprised me when she pushed through and got inside the house.

Woah, where did this bold Bella come from?

"Bella!" Billy called after her, but she didn't look back.

I felt bad seeing that my sister had taken advantage of his wheelchair state and entered his home without his official permission. I awkwardly smiled at him not knowing what to do.

"Sorry about Bella. You know she's usually not like that. She's just-"

"Yes, I know. It's all right." He sighed. "You might as well go in and see him too."

"Thanks Billy. And sorry."

He nodded without saying anything. I rushed inside and entered Jacob's room. I had been inside this house many times and knew my way around. I saw Jacob laying on his bed which looked way too small for someone like him to be using. He was sleeping like there was no tomorrow. A small chuckle left my mouth thinking how cute he was (in a little brother type of way of course). I then noticed that Bella wasn't there. Where did she go?

I heard yelling coming from outside and this led me to look out the window. I saw Bella's small frame standing up to four very tall guys. They were all half-naked (shirtless) standing in the March weather that was still quite chilly, but it looked like the weather didn't affect them. What was up with them? Were they planning on getting sick?

I recognized two of the four to be Sam Uley and Embry Call. I didn't know who the other two were though. They looked familiar, but I was sure that I hadn't seem them before. I think their appearance which was similar to Sam and Embry's was the only reason why they looked familiar to me. If I hadn't known Sam and Embry, I would have thought those two other guys were their brothers.

I watched as Bella leaned forward and pushed harshly against Sam's chest. The guy standing next to him got infuriated by this. His face contorted with anger and he stepped close to her while Sam motioned him to get back. I had a feeling that something bad was going to happen in a matter of time. I often heard how "guys couldn't hit girls" or that they wouldn't, but that wasn't true. Anger was anger. In a quick blur of emotions, anything could happen.

I knelt down next to Jacob and shook his arm with all the strength I had.

"Jacob."

He didn't budge.

"Jacob!"

Still nothing.

"Jacob, Bella's in trouble."

His eyes opened and he frantically looked around. "Olivia. What are you doing here?"

"Jacob, I need your help. Look out the window."

He sat up and turned his head to look. "Shit. Bella," he muttered before jumping out of his bed and running out the back door. I followed after him, but I wasn't fast like him. By the time I had gotten outside, Jacob was already halfway across his yard. When had he gotten so athletic?

I was completely mind blown when my eyes trailed back to where the angry guy had been standing. In his place, there was a giant dark silver wolf. It was one of those enormous wolves that Bella and I had seen the week before. I stopped in my tracks as my mind began drowning in thoughts.

"Jake! Run!" Bella screamed at the top of her lungs as she ran towards him.

 _Oh no, Bella._ I worried for her as the wolf behind her sauntered forward in a threatening way. I was yelling _run, run_ inside my head, but no words came out.

To my surprise, Jacob sprung into the air. As he did this, his clothes shredded with a loud tearing sound and his human body somehow morphed into a wolf. He leaped over Bella and landed on all fours onto the ground as a gigantic russet colored wolf.

 _What the hell did just happen?!_ I asked myself. Was I going crazy? How was this possible?

A low growl emitted from the silver wolf and I wasn't sure if it was at Bella or Jacob, but I guessed it was probably at Bella. After all, she seemed to be the cause of his anger in the first place. The two wolves crashed into each other snarling and I decided that maybe it was just Jacob that the angry guy was mad at. They went after each other's throats violently and the sounds they made were almost deafening. The fight carried on and the wolves disappeared somewhere into the woods.

"Jared. Embry. Take them to Emily's place!" Sam ordered before he went after them.

With the wolves no longer with us, it suddenly became eerily quiet. I felt my nails digging into my hands. I hadn't even noticed how hard I had been clenching them.

The guy whom I now knew was Jared helped Bella up while Embry swiftly jogged over to me. "Guess the wolf's out of the bag," he said before he cautiously put his hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm not sure what I am," I said as I shook my head in denial. "That wasn't real. It can't be real."

"I promise you," Embry grinned looking proud. "That was real."

* * *

Bella wasn't in the state to drive and neither was I so Embry became the temporary driver of our red truck. He pulled up to a cabin-like house that looked similar to what would be seen in the middle of a camping ground. Jared jumped out from the back and opened the door for us.

"Wait. We should go back and make sure Jacob is okay," Bella suggested looking reluctant to get out.

"I hope Paul gets some teeth in him. Serve him right," Jared said ignoring her. He didn't wait for us and instead began heading into the house.

"No way," Embry objected as he followed. "Jake's a natural. Did you see him phase on the fly? I bet you five that Paul doesn't touch him."

"It's on," Jared said with a nod. "Paul's been at it longer. He'll win."

Was it just me or were they talking about this a bit too normally? Not the part about the whole them being able to become wolves thing, but the part where they were talking about how Jacob and the angry guy whose name was Paul were fighting. It looked to me that those two were going at it to kill each other and Jared and Embry didn't look worried at all.

"No one's gonna die, right?" I asked in all seriousness.

Embry and Jared shared a glance before exploding with loud obnoxious laughter. I gave them an exasperated look. Were they kidding me right now? They thought it was okay to laugh about this?

"Oh lighten up, Olivia," Jared said. "They'll be fine. Imagine it as two brothers having a little fight."

"A little fight?" I repeated and my voice sounded unnatural to me because of how high pitched it was. I was so not getting used to this wolf thing fast enough. "You call that a little fight?"

Embry nodded. "Yeah. We're made to be tough. Those two can handle it."

Bella looked appalled by the conversation that we were having.

"Come on in, guys. We won't bite," Embry said when he realized that we weren't moving a single step. He seemed to be a very nice person.

"Speak for yourself." And Jared, not so much. Well, he was _nice,_ but a bit too blunt for my liking. He was also pretty annoying. I could tell he was a huge jokester.

Bella warily climbed out of the car after me and the two of us finally headed towards the house. Embry paused before we got to the door. "Oh hey, about Emily, Sam's fiance...Don't stare. It bugs him," he said quietly.

"Why would we stare?" Bella asked.

Embry didn't respond and instead entered the house. Bella looked over at me and I shrugged. I had no idea what he meant either. All I had on my mind was that I wanted to be anywhere but outside at that exact moment. I was dressed a little too lightly for the current weather and I was starting to shiver.

The second I stepped in I smelled the delicious aroma of muffins filling my nostrils. "You guys hungry? Like I would have to ask," a young woman's voice said sarcastically to the two teen boys. When she turned around and saw us, I could see the full view of her face and I immediately knew why Sam didn't like it when people stared at her. She had big long scars running along the right side of her face that pulled down her eye and twisted the corner of her mouth. I wondered what had happened to her. I couldn't imagine how much pain she would have been in. It probably would have been extremely bloody. Although she had huge scars on her face, she was still beautiful. She had long black hair and the perfect tan looking skin that everyone on the reservation naturally had. I envied it considering how I was on the pale side like Bella.

Emily smiled and greeted us. "Hello," she said not looking too surprised to see us.

"Uh, hi," I stepped forward to say as I formed a smile on my face. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Olivia Swan."

"Hi, Olivia. I'm Emily. And you are?" She turned to ask my sister.

Before she could respond, Jared answered, "Bella Swan. Who else?" His mouth was full of food, but that didn't stop him from talking.

Emily rolled her eyes before she smiled again. "So you're the vampire girl," she said to Bella.

"And you're the wolf girl," my sister responded with a nod.

"Guess so. Well, I'm engaged to one," Emily said with a little shrug.

It was so weird to hear them speak about vampires and wolves so normally when the rest of the world didn't even have a clue.

"So are you a vamp girl as well?" Embry's voice broke my chain of thoughts when he asked me the question.

I shook my head. "No. I actually found out about vampires only like a week ago. I'm not used to any of this."

"Ah, well it's good to know that at least _one_ of the Swan sisters isn't obsessed with the bloodsuckers."

"Jared!" Emily gave him a stern look telling him to shut up.

"I'm just saying!" he defended himself.

"Just be quiet and be nice to our guests," she said before slapping his hand away as he reached for the large basket. "Save some for your brothers. And the ladies first!" After she was done chiding him, she looked up at us. "Muffin?"

I liked Emily. She seemed like a fun person to be around. She was also very motherly and I could tell that the two boys appreciated her a lot. Yes, even Jared. He and Emily bickered almost every other minute, but it was more like a brother and sister type of thing. Nothing bad.

"Sure. Thanks." Bella surprised me when she accepted the offer. She picked up one of the humongous muffins and split it in half before asking if I wanted some.

I took a bite and the next thing I knew, I was in heaven. It tasted amazing. "Wow. This is really good, Emily," I complimented her.

"You think so?" she asked with a happy smile and I nodded. "Thank you. I'm so glad you like it."

It became quiet for a moment after that before Bella spoke. "You know...Jacob never said anything to me…"

"Believe me. He wanted to tell you everything, but he couldn't. That's a wolf thing," Embry explained. "Alpha's orders get obeyed whether we want to or not. Do you know what else? We can hear each other's thoughts. It's another wolf thing. It's good for hunting, but embarrassing for everything else."

Talk about embarrassing alright. I couldn't help but think of all possible scenarios that would make sharing thoughts humiliating.

"Will you just shut up? These are trade secrets," Jared said loudly. "Damn it! This chick runs with vampires."

"I can't really run with vampires," Bella said. "Because they're fast."

Clearly, the wolves and vampires did not get along and what my sister just said offended them.

"Oh yeah? Well, _we're_ faster," Jared replied. "Freaked out yet?"

Bella shook her head. "You're not the first monsters I've met."

"Jake's right," Embry smiled. "You're good with the weird. On the other hand Olivia, I don't think you're so good with it. No offense."

"None taken," I said with a laugh. "I agree."

Embry and Jared laughed with me. It was like now that we knew their secret, they were okay with us being around them. I felt welcome.

"I just don't get it though. How? Why?" Bella asked obviously wanting to know more about the whole I-can-turn-into-a-wolf thing.

"Because there are bad things here and they're getting worse," Sam's voice erupted through the house as he entered. Where had he come from? I hadn't even heard him coming.

The moment his eyes landed on Emily, his unsmiling face changed into one of adoration. He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her scarred face multiple times making her giggle. A smile appeared on my face too as I watched the happy couple. I wished I could meet my perfect pair soon and be in Emily's place one day. It seemed like a nearly impossible idea though with so many immature idiots at Forks High who never caught my interest.

I had gone out with Mike before, but when I found out that Jessica liked him, I made sure to never go on a date with him ever again. It was the right thing to do, but now it was just very awkward between Mike and I. To my relief, he seemed to have gotten over it and now he was pursuing after Bella, but of course she didn't like him as more than a friend. Why couldn't he just get the message? Was he so oblivious to see that Jessica really liked him? And why couldn't Jessica confess her feelings to him? I was pretty sure he would be interested in going out with her, but of course life wasn't simple or easy like that.

I noticed Bella shifting uncomfortably next to me and I whispered to ask if she was okay. I didn't know why I asked because obviously she wasn't. I mean, just watching Sam and Emily together was probably a painful reminder of what she lost, but she nodded nonetheless telling me that she was "okay."

I expected to see Jared making gagging faces, but to my surprise, he was completely fine with the PDA. He actually looked happy to see them together. It was nice to see that even he had a mature side to him.

I suddenly remembered...If Sam was here, where were Jacob and Paul? It was like God heard my thoughts or something because Jacob and Paul arrived the next second. They laughed as they pushed and jabbed at one another.

Jared and Embry stood up and crowded around Jacob and Paul. "Ah ha! Look! Jacob is completely unscathed, but what do we have here? Paul has a small scar on his arm! Ha! Pay up," Embry said excitedly as Jared groaned about losing another five bucks to him.

As Jared reluctantly handed Embry the five dollars, I saw Bella making her way outside to talk to Jacob in private. "Sorry," Paul said to her with a smirk on his face as he passed by. She gave him a small nod in acceptance before exiting. Now that Bella was gone, I didn't know what to do as I awkwardly remained sitting at the table picking at my nails. I knew that she wanted to talk to Jacob, but I didn't want to be left here alone!

Paul was about to take a seat when he finally noticed me. To think of it, he hadn't even seen me during the whole incident when he phased into a wolf. He had been too busy with being angry at Bella and Jacob. His muscles tensed and his eyes widened. It was like he was seeing something amazing for the first time in his life, but that didn't make sense because he was looking at _me._ And let me tell you, I was nothing special. I was just plain old me. He kept staring and his gaze never faltered. Was something wrong with him? That was when I realized that something was wrong with me too. I could feel it.

"Dude, did he just imprint on her?" I heard Embry's voice ask.

 _Imprint?!_ What did he mean by that? And why did I feel so captivated by Paul? My eyes got lost in his beautiful dark orbs and I thought I was going mad. What was happening to me? Most importantly, why was he looking at me like he was completely in love with me?

"Yup, I think he just did."

"Uh oh."

* * *

 _Author's Note:_ _Yes, dude that just happened! I'm jealous of Olivia. I wish Paul imprinted on me too haha. Please don't forget to leave a review! :) I want to know what you all think. Do you like it so far? Oh, and was this chapter too long or was it okay? I personally like reading long chapters, but I don't know what you prefer… Btw, I really hope I didn't make any of the characters seem "out of character." There were obviously a few lines from the movie in this chapter used here and there, but that's just to set my story up. The next chapter will definitely be different! Anticipate the PaulxOC relationship!_

 _I would really like to know what you thought about my writing so seriously, please leave a review! I'll appreciate it a lot._

 _-Jane_


	2. To Be Imprinted On

_Author's Note:_ _Can I just say WOW?! Thank you so much for the follows and favorites. I've never gotten this many readers on the first chapter before so I'm really surprised, but also very grateful. I'm really glad to see that people are enjoying this story so far. I'm guessing there are a lot of Paul Lahote fans out there! So woohoo!_

 _Also, thank you to the two guests who reviewed and also_ X Blue Eyed Demon X _and_ Jessie the twilight girl _for taking the time to leave reviews as well. I hope to see more reviews including feedback on this story as more chapters are posted in the future :) If you don't leave a review, I won't update...LOL no I'm just kidding. I'll still update, but now you get the point haha._

 _I literally spent like eight hours writing this chapter (I don't know why it took so long) and I put a lot of work into it. It would really make me happy if you left more reviews (and also longer ones) this time. Of course I'm still thankful for even receiving four on my first chapter, but I do hope I can get more! Thanks!_

 _I hope you like Olivia and Paul together! I hope I'm portraying his character correctly..._

 _-Jane_

* * *

Chapter 2: To Be Imprinted On

It felt like forever that the two of us were just staring into each other's eyes. It didn't even matter that we weren't alone. All I could see was him. I didn't know how to describe it exactly, but there was this imaginary force that was pulling us together. I wasn't sure what this attraction was but I liked how it felt. It was as if all of my fears and worries inside me were gone just by looking at him. He gave me a warm feeling and I liked that. I liked that a lot... But it also kind of freaked me out.

The focus between us was broken when Sam put his hand on Paul's shoulder and shook him gently. "Paul," he said solemnly. He gave him a small nod and Paul returned the motion like he knew what was going on. Silent words were exchanged.

Paul then said my name, bringing me out of the trance that I was in. His voice was deep and alluring. _Olivia_ rolled smoothly off his tongue. "Will you step outside with me?" He looked me straight in the eyes and all I could do was nod like an idiot.

"Um, okay," I replied unsurely. The chair made a painful screeching noise as I stood up and I felt my face heating up in embarrassment. Why were they all staring at me?

As I followed Paul out the door, I continued to feel eyes staring down my back and I knew for sure that Sam, Emily, Embry, and Jared were watching us leaving. They knew something. I had no idea what it was, but hopefully I was about to find out because this unknown mixture of emotions I had building up inside me was bothering me. I wanted to know what was going on.

I trailed behind Paul wordlessly. It was hard to catch up with him because he walked in large strides with his long legs so effortlessly while I, on the other hand, was speed walking to get to him. "Will you please slow down?" I was starting to run out of breath, which he could probably tell from the way I was speaking in between taking deep breaths. It was rather shameful. I didn't think I was out of shape, but maybe I did need to get used to exercising more frequently. How could I already be starting to get out of breath?

He abruptly stopped and I bumped into him. I felt myself falling backwards from the hard impact. I was expecting to land on my ass, but I didn't. It was his shape-shifter reflexes that helped prevent me from making a fool of myself. He grabbed my arm while supporting my back and brought me forward helping me straighten up.

My face never felt hotter in my life. It was burning up in embarrassment. God. Why did I have to be clumsy at all the wrong times? At least he had stopped me from falling. If he hadn't, well, that would have been another story.

I cleared my throat as I tried to recompose myself. "So will you tell me what's going on?"

We were standing a good long distance away from the house. Obviously whatever it was he wanted to say, he wanted to tell me without the others hearing.

Paul looked hesitant to speak. It was so strange to see him look so worried and also quite serious. I didn't know him well, but I knew that he wasn't the type of guy to be _serious_. I had heard Jacob describing someone named Paul before and he had said that he was extremely temperamental and often caused trouble around school. I agreed with Jacob's description. After all, I had seen Paul's anger about half an hour ago. Right now, he was the total opposite of how he was before with Bella. It almost made me think that this was a different Paul, but with how small the reservation was, I knew that this Paul who was standing right before me was the same Paul that Jacob had described.

It all clicked in. I suddenly realized that I _had_ seen Paul before although he hadn't seen _me._ He had been one of those guys that Bella, Jacob, and I had seen who were cliff diving. Was he dangerous? I remembered how Jacob had described this guy and the others. They were apparently rumoured to be on steroids, mysteriously getting taller and muscular. They liked to isolate themselves from the rest of the reservation and most people were afraid of them. It all made sense now. Maybe their transition into becoming a wolf or whatever caused them to get "sick" and suddenly grow tall and muscular. It had happened to Jacob so this must have been a part of their transformation of some sort.

"This is going to be a lot to take in, but I know it'll be better for you to know now than figuring it out later…" Paul told me. "I've imprinted on you."

Once again, the word _imprint_ came up. I started digging through my brain to understand the word. Wasn't it something that happened between animals or something? Like when a young animal attached itself to another animal, person, or thing? I wasn't exactly sure I was right. It wasn't a term often used by people in everyday life.

"You've imprinted on me? What do you mean by that?" I asked feeling confused and also anxious at the same time.

He looked frustrated for a few seconds, pondering what to say. He kept opening his mouth to speak, but would stop himself.

"Please, say something. You can't just stay silent after telling me something like that. Come on, you're sort of freaking me out. Is it bad?" I asked as a million different questions formed in my head.

"No...It's just-It's really hard to explain…"

"Well, try explaining!" I said unable to contain my impatience anymore. "I want to know what the hell is going on. I _know_ something happened. I feel different and I don't know why, but I have a feeling that you do."

"All right. Just calm down, okay?"

I took a deep breath before nodding.

"When a shape-shifter imprints on someone, he becomes unconditionally bound to her for the rest of his life. It's like she's gravity and he gets pulled towards her. Everyone and everything else in his life becomes secondary because the imprintee is the most important to him. He'll do anything for her. He becomes whatever she needs him to be whether that's a protector, a lover, or a friend. It's not exactly like love at first sight, but it happens with the right person. The imprintee and the shape-shifter are the perfect match. It's a profound phenomenon between shape-shifters that happens within our tribe."

I didn't know why, but I wasn't weirded out by this at all. I was accepting it like I somehow I had known about it all along. Maybe it had to do with him imprinting on me. I guessed it wasn't really a one sided thing because obviously, I was feeling bonded to him already.

"So you're basically saying that I'm your soulmate…"

"Basically."

 _Oh, great_. So a guy who was prone to having angry outbursts was somehow connected to me. I barely even knew him and we were freaking soulmates. Boy, was I in for a wild ride.

"So this can only happen with one person?" I began to wonder. "What if I had never moved to Forks? We would have never met…"

He looked pained to even think about not meeting me. "The imprinting would have never happened if you hadn't come here."

I was speechless. This was all super crazy, but also pretty awesome. There was a very small chance we would have met, but it had happened and he had imprinted on me when he first laid eyes on me. It was really weird to know that I had been living in Forks just fifteen miles away from him for a whole year and we hadn't even seen each other until now.

"You aren't running away?…"

"Huh?" I wanted him to clarify what he meant.

"I was expecting you to freak out and run away or something," Paul said awkwardly with his hand pressed behind his neck.

"Oh…" I said with a anxious laugh. "To be honest, I'm surprised that I'm taking this so well myself."

"I'm glad you're taking it well," he replied.

It became silent again. It was like he was unsure about what to say around me as if he was scared that one wrong move would make me turn away and head the other direction.

"Hey," I said as another idea popped in my head. "What if I told you I had a boyfriend?"

"Then I would have to be a friend to you," he said. "But this whole imprinting thing is so intense...Eventually you would leave him for me."

The words he said seemed like they were cocky, but they weren't. He was just telling me the truth. Even if I tried escaping him, I would end up back with him. I kept asking myself in my head why I was so accepting about this. I should have been weirded out like Paul said. After all, I had been pretty traumatized a few minutes ago by finding out that a guy like Paul could phase into a wolf. I knew after seeing Bella and Edward together that I was longing to find my perfect match soon so I could experience what it felt like to be in love. I didn't expect to find it so soon because I was still only in high school, but here I was standing next to a guy who told me we were destined to be together. I felt blessed. It could have been a different girl, but it was me he imprinted on.

"Do you...uh have a boyfriend?" he asked as he avoided my eyes.

I shook my head. "No."

He looked relieved to hear my answer. He still wasn't looking up at me though so I decided it was the right time for me to spend my time observing him. It felt uncomfortable to look him up and down while he was watching me so now was perfect.

As my eyes landed on his face, the first thing that came to my mind was _wow_ because Paul was handsome. I mean, like really really handsome. His facial features were sharp and masculine. The type of guys that attracted me were usually the goofy boyish type, the ones who were sort of like Mike Newton, but I surprised myself when I realized that I was also attracted to a guy like Paul. He was way different from Mike. He had tan skin, short black hair, and gorgeous dark brown eyes. He had the most flawless full lips that I had ever seen and I couldn't help but think that they were probably great for kissing.

My eyes trailed down to see the rest of his body. I blushed as I tried not to stare at his muscles. God, his abs were perfect. _He_ was perfect. This whole imprinting stuff was so crazy. I had just met him for the first time. How was I so into him already? This wasn't just physically, but also emotionally. I had a random urge to be with him. I began to think that maybe this was what it felt like to be one of those outrageous fangirls out there whose "ovaries would explode" just by seeing their favorite celebrities.

Another thing about Paul that I really liked was how tall he was. He had to be at least six feet, maybe a few inches taller. Usually I preferred guys to be average height so I wouldn't feel so intimidated by them, but Paul was fine the way he was. I felt safe just standing next to him. He was simply faultless.

Because I was standing so close, I could see every little detail on him. That was when my eyes went to see the scar on his arm. It was gone, like completely gone. It was as if it had never existed. To come to think of it, the scar shouldn't have even been a scar in the first place for a normal person. A scar was usually formed in the process of healing. What he had should have been a fresh cut. What was up with that?

"Your scar. It's gone," I said in disbelief. Had my eyes deceived me?

He finally looked up at me before glancing down at his arm. He must have forgotten about it. "Oh, yeah. One of the benefits of being a shape-shifter. We heal fast."

"That's really awesome," I commented. I was jealous actually. I hated even getting the smallest paper cut because I was a wimp when it came to handling pain. I couldn't even get myself to look at blood. Healing fast would be a cool trait to have. "What are the other benefits?"

"Well, um," he began to say. "There's speed and strength. We can hear, see, and smell things from miles away, and we don't age if we keep phasing consistently. What we can do in our wolf forms heightens our abilities in our human forms as well."

That explained why they were all so in shape.

"So you're kind of like warm blooded vampires, except you don't drink blood," I said trying to wrap everything he said up into one sentence.

"No, we're not. Don't compare us to those leeches," he said lowly and I felt myself regretting bringing up the cold ones. I had been around Bella and hearing what she said about vampires so much that I had taken an interest in them.

"Sorry," I quickly told him. "I didn't want to make you mad…" My heart began beating faster. What if he phased in front of me right now? That would be really bad.

His angry expression softened in a split second. He had probably heard my heartbeat and decided to calm down to keep me from getting scared. "Don't worry about it. I won't get mad around you."

Well, that was sweet of him to say…

To take away the uncomfortableness, I changed the subject. "I noticed that you all have matching tattoos. I like them," I told him.

"Thanks. I got a lot of shit from my dad after getting it, but it's a part of our pack," he said with a shrug. Although he didn't actually say anything about his dad, I could tell from the way he spoke that he wasn't on good terms with him.

"Are you cold?" he asked eyeing me warily when he saw me shiver involuntarily. Damn the stupid weather. It was nearing the end of March and it was still really cold. I missed being in Phoenix. I needed to stop complaining though. I had to get used to it. After all, I had been accepted into Julliard and I would be living in New York by September. The weather would be similar to Forks.

I looked down at my clothes. I was wearing a casual white dress with black leggings and a jean jacket over it. Yeah, no wonder I was cold. What I was wearing was definitely not suited for today's weather.

"I'm okay," I lied.

"Sure you are," he said sarcastically. He motioned for me to come closer to him. "Come here."

I didn't know what he was planning exactly, but I stepped forward anyway. He astonished me when he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. Our bodies were touching and I felt heat radiating off of him. He was so warm, which didn't make sense because like I said many times, it was cold and he was shirtless. It was thirty eight degrees outside and pretty windy. The hormonal teenage girl part of me was definitely not complaining, but the other logical side of me was. It was just really weird to be around muscular half naked guys. At least Jacob had had the decency to wear a shirt.

"Let's get back in. I think I've told you enough for today," Paul stated before pausing. "Do you feel comfortable going in?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know," he said with a shake of his head. "I thought you might need some space or something."

"I appreciate the worry, but I'm good," I told him with a smile.

I felt butterflies in my stomach when he smiled back at me. I hoped to see more of it. He seemed like the type who would smirk rather than genuinely smile, but maybe I could bring out the smile in him. I noted to myself that it would be a secret goal of mine.

"Aren't _you_ cold?" I asked as we started walking towards the house.

He laughed in response. "No. I never get cold."

"Let me guess," I said. "Another wolf thing?"

"Yup, our body temperature is 108 degrees."

"Woah, really?"

He nodded. That explained why he felt like he had a really bad fever even though he didn't. Well, at least I now knew how he was standing shirtless when it was thirty eight degrees. It didn't affect him one bit.

"I wish I could be hot like that!" I immediately regretted my choice of words. "Oh my gosh. That came out wrong."

"So you don't think I'm hot?" Paul asked.

"No, no, no! You are. I mean-Hey! You did not just trick me into telling you that!" I exclaimed.

Paul looked like he had accomplished something big. He was grinning from head to toe. "I totally just did, Olivia."

"I am so embarrassed right now." I slapped myself on the forehead.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better. You're pretty hot yourself."

"Thank you, but no that does not make me feel any better," I said as I pulled away from his hold. I pointed at my face. "Do you not see how red my face is getting? Now let's talk about something else before I explode."

Paul laughed again and although I was displeased with him for making me blush like a tomato, I loved hearing him laugh. He sounded happy and for some reason, that made _me_ happy.

"Okay. What do you want to talk about?" he asked as he pulled me under his arm again.

"What happened back there with Bella if you don't mind me asking. Why did you-you know, phase?" I asked the one question that had been bugging my head with curiosity.

"Your sister slapped me. That's why."

"What? No way!" I exclaimed. "She did?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "You know your sister has been acting like a bitch lately?"

My jaw dropped out of shock before I recomposed myself. "Don't say that. She's not a bitch. You barely know her."

"From what I've seen, it seems like she is one. Jake cares a lot about her, but she doesn't give a crap about him."

"That's...true," I reluctantly admitted. "But she hasn't been her usual self since her boyfriend left so she doesn't deserve to be called that for being this way. She's just lonely and depressed. Why do you hate my sister so much in the first place?"

"I don't exactly hate her," Paul said. "I hear Jake's thoughts whenever we're out on a patrol and I know how tough of a situation he's in. His feelings are one-sided. He wants to imprint on her, but he can't."

"Why can't he?"

Paul shook his head. "Imprinting doesn't work that way. You can't just do it on someone you like. It comes naturally."

I sighed. Poor Jacob. I knew Bella was suffering, but so was he.

* * *

When we went back into Emily's house, Jared greeted us with a large grin on his face. I watched as the scene unfolded in front of me. It was nice to see the boys interacting with each other. Their pack was obviously tight and seeing them together reminded me of normal siblings, but of course they were more rough with each other than regular siblings.

"So did you two have a nice long talk?" Jared asked.

"We did, you asshole," Paul said as he nudged Jared in his side using his elbow.

"Ow! What's with you?"

"Why did you eat _everything_? Haven't you heard of sharing?" Paul asked.

"Don't blame me. A wolf has got to eat," Jared responded.

"This is why I saved a few for you out of harm's way," Emily said as she brought over another basket of muffins. "Here you go, Paul."

"Thanks, Em. That's why you're the best," he told her as he took one and began eating it.

Emily smiled in response before she looked over at me. "So are things good between you and Paul?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I think so."

"That's good," she said. "Well, I hope that means I'll be seeing you around here more often. It gets a little lonely being the only girl, you know?"

"Hey!" Jared objected. "Are you saying we're not entertaining enough for you?"

"No, I'm saying that sometimes you boys are a bit too much to handle on my own," she said with a roll of her eyes. "Well, I've got to go do some paperwork, but please feel free to stay here as long as you would like."

"Thank you, Emily," I said to her before she entered her room. This was when I noticed that Sam was nowhere to be found, but I had a feeling that he was in Emily's room. I began to wonder if it was really "paperwork" she had to do.

"You took this imprinting thing pretty well," Embry said like he was disappointed that I had taken it easily.

"Yeah, which means that you've got to pay up," Jared replied stretching his hand out.

Embry dug through his pocket and slapped the five dollars into his friend's hand.

"Wait. You guys put a bet on me?" I asked with a pout. "That is so mean."

"Now, now Liv. Don't get mad," Jared said as he smiled broadly.

"Liv?" I repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"You're apart of the family now. You've earned yourself a diminutive," he said.

I actually liked my full name so everyone called me Olivia. Not even my parents or Bella called me Liv. I guess I didn't mind though. I would let them call me Liv if they wanted to. It made me feel like I was officially welcome to be around them. I looked at Paul and he looked pleased to see that I was getting along with his pack members.

* * *

When it was time for Bella and I to leave, it suddenly became a difficult time for me. Bella waited in the car as I entered Paul's number in my phone. I let out a long sigh as I pressed the save button.

"What's the matter?" Paul asked as a look of concern crossed his face.

"This may seem strange, but I don't want to leave you. I can't exactly explain it, but I just feel like I need to be with you...Like I can't get away...and if I do, that I won't be able to handle being away from you. I'm sorry. It sounds crazy, I know. I probably shouldn't have said that."

He grabbed my hand and I was immediately touched by the feeling of his warm hand. "Olivia. This is a huge part of imprinting. It's normal to feel this way," he assured me.

I was about to respond, but Bella's voice interrupted me. "Olivia. Let's go!" I heard her yell. It was getting late and our dad was probably expecting us to be home.

"I'm coming!" I replied before turning to look at Paul one last time. "Well, I guess this is goodbye for now. I'll see you...soon."

Paul nodded before he released my hand with reluctance and I pulled it away. I gave him a small smile before turning around and walking away. I had to force myself to not look back because if I did, it would be harder to leave. It felt like I was leaving half of myself behind. It was scary to know how much Paul suddenly mattered to me, but it also felt really good to know that he felt the same way about me. It was nice to have someone to care about.

I got into the car. "You and Paul?" Bella asked with disbelief.

"It's a long story, but I'll tell you later."

* * *

Like I promised, I told Bella everything about what had happened between Paul and I. She couldn't understand how it was possible for two people to suddenly have feelings for each other, but she tried her best to grasp the idea of it. She asked me what it felt like to be imprinted on and I told her that it felt like I was bonded to him and that it was the best feeling in the world. Bella was happy for me, but I could see that she was in pain because she knew that Edward wasn't coming back. And now I felt like I was the selfish one instead of her. Here I was anticipating what was happening between Paul and I while my sister was moping in a corner all alone.

Another week had passed. Paul and I had exchanged a few text messages here and there. He had even called me a few times. None of it felt awkward at all. It felt like what having a crush on a best friend would feel like. We hadn't been able to see each other so it had been difficult for us, but exchanging phone calls and hearing each other's voices was better than nothing.

Over the span of a few days, Bella had been thinking about it a lot and came to the decision that she wanted to go "cliff diving." I was totally against it, but what was the point? Bella didn't care what I thought. She was always stubborn and once she made a decision, it was final. There was no arguing so I decided that I would go with her to make sure she would be okay.

"This is horrible," I stated as I closed my eyes. It was hard to look down from where we were standing. It was like the ground was moving when in fact it wasn't. "You know I hate heights!"

"No one said you had to come with me," Bella pointed out.

"Are you serious? Of course I had to come with you. If you get injured, dad is going to kill me."

"I won't get injured," she told me.

I sighed deeply. "Remind me why you're doing this again?"

"I'm only doing this to see Edward. Whenever I do something crazy like this, I just- I see him. I see him being here with me. That's why I have to do this. It's the only way I can see him."

I sighed. "Just...be as careful as you can. As soon as I see that you've gotten in there okay, I'll run down there."

"All right." Bella nodded. "Here I go," she simply said before jumping without even the slightest hesitation. Another thing that we didn't have in common, I noted. She was brave enough to do something crazy like this while I wasn't. I didn't know if I could call it brave though. Wasn't it just being a risk taker?

My heart took a big leap as I saw her frail body crashing into the deep water. There were no sounds except for the noises coming from the motions of the water. "Come on, Bella," I muttered to myself. A few seconds passed and her head came up to the surface. I was starting to smile in relief, but then a large wave came over and brought her somewhere underneath the dark water. She was gone again and this time I wasn't so sure if she was safe.

"Bella! Bella!" I called, but there was no use in it.

I began calling for someone else. I didn't know why I did this, but it was my instinct. I screamed as loud as I could. Shape-shifters had good hearing. Maybe Paul would hear me.

"HELP! PAUL! HELP!"

The sky was grey and made the ocean impossible to see through. I looked down into the water to see if Bella came up, but she didn't. I looked behind me into the forest, but didn't see or hear any rustling. No one was coming, but that didn't mean I had to stand here and do nothing. I had to do _something_. I took off my jacket and took small steps towards the edge of the cliff. What I was about to do was incredibly stupid and life threatening, but it was better than staying up here and waiting for Bella to die. There wasn't enough time left and if I wanted my sister alive, I had to react fast.

I was close to jumping in when I felt a strong grasp on my arm that pulled me back. I spun around and found myself staring at a bare muscular chest. I looked up. It was Paul. He towered over me and his eyes looked terrified. He held me by the arms. His hold was so strong that it was hurting me, but I stayed quiet. "What do you think you're doing? Trying to kill yourself?!" he yelled.

At his words, my eyes widened even more. "No, I wasn't." Tears began falling from my eyes and then the emotions finally got to me and I broke down. I started crying. "B-Bella."

"What about her?" Paul urged me to talk.

"She-she jumped in!"

I saw someone running past us as soon as I said those words. It was Jacob. He must have been listening to us because he knew what had happened and immediately dove in.

"Oh my God, Paul. What do we do? I can't lose her. I can't lose Bella! She can't die. She has to be okay. Oh God, this is all my fault. I shouldn't have let her in." My hands shook as I feared for the worst.

* * *

"Olivia. Stop blaming yourself. It's not your fault," Paul's voice contained control. "It was her choice. Jacob will get her. She's going to be okay."

Jacob made his way up the beach and placed Bella onto the sand carefully. I ran over and collapsed onto my knees next to her. "Bella," I cried.

"Bella. Please," Jacob pleaded as he started pumping her chest. "Breathe. Breathe. Come on, Bella. Breathe."

She stirred and her eyes flashed open. She looked confused. "Bella, can you hear me?" I asked as I held her hand.

"Jake. Olivia," she croaked and I felt her squeezing my hand letting me know that she was all right.

"What the hell were you thinking, huh?" Jacob asked.

"I just needed to see something," she replied.

"You scared me so much. I-I thought I lost you…" I sobbed.

"I'm sorry," Bella apologized.

I shook my head as I wrapped the bright pink beach towel I had brought from home around her shivering body. "I'm never letting you do anything like this ever again, do you hear?"

She closed her eyes with a long sigh before nodding. "Okay, Olivia. I'm sorry," she repeated.

"Take her home," a new voice said and I looked up to see Sam. "I'm gonna go help over at Harry's place." He began running off.

"What happened at Harry's?" Bella asked as she tried sitting up.

"Harry Clearwater had a heart attack," Paul revealed and I heard his voice from right behind me. That was when I realized that his hand had been placed on my back while I was crying and waiting for Bella to open her eyes. He had been here for me the whole time. He didn't drop his hand and instead kept it there. He began to rub my back in a soothing motion helping my breathing slow down back to normal.

"Charlie and my dad are at Harry's place with his family," Jacob added.

"Is he okay?" Bella asked.

"He's gone," Jacob replied after a long silence.

Oh, God. Harry was dead?

"Come on, I'll drive you home," Jacob said.

Bella shook her head. "No. I have to go to Harry's. Our dad is probably-"

I interrupted her. "No, Bella. You aren't going anywhere else but home. You need to warm yourself up and relax. _I'll_ go to Harry's and make sure his family is okay. And also Dad."

She eventually agreed.

I wiped my tears using my sleeves. I was sure that my eyeliner and mascara were rubbing off, but I didn't care what I looked like at that moment. "Take her home safely," I said to Jacob and he nodded in response. And with that, Paul and I went to the home of the Clearwaters.

* * *

The mood felt depressing as soon as I entered the Clearwater household. Many people were there in support of Sue, Harry's wife. I had found out from Paul on the way there that Harry's heart attack had been caused by his daughter, Leah's sudden transformation into a wolf. So it didn't surprise me when I didn't see her at the house. I felt bad for her. She probably blamed herself for her father's death, but really it wasn't her fault. She had no control.

I saw Seth, her brother, and gave him my condolences. However, he wasn't like his usual I'm-nice-to-everyone self. He seemed moody and volatile. He was sweating and it looked like he was burning up. He excused himself and went up to his room. With what had happened to Leah, I had a feeling that he was also transforming into a shape-shifter. Perhaps his father's death was triggering it.

"Olivia?" My dad looked surprised, but very glad to see me when I approached him.

"Dad," I called him as I hugged him. "How are you feeling?"

He sighed. "It's been a rough few hours. I found out recently that Harry had been having heart problems, but I didn't know he would go so soon."

"I just hope that Sue is okay," I replied.

My dad nodded in agreement before he studied my face. "Are _you_ okay?" he asked me. That was when I remembered that my makeup was probably smudged and I looked like a complete mess. I started panicking. Would I have to tell him the truth about Bella? I then realized that if he noticed that I had been crying, he probably thought it was because of Harry's death.

"Yeah, I'm okay," I nodded.

"So you and Paul?" he asked. He had obviously seen the two of us walk in together.

"You know him?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I don't really _know_ the kid. I mean, I've seen him around and I've heard some things too. He seems to have caused some trouble in school."

I remembered Jacob's description again about how Paul was hotheaded.

"You sure he's good for you?" my dad asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, he's a nice a guy."

My dad raised an eyebrow. He didn't believe me. "How did you two meet anyway?"

"Uh, it just sort of happened," I explained. "We're not together or anything we just-"

"Have something going on, huh?" he finished for me.

"Yeah. Are you okay with that?" I asked feeling a little nervous to hear his answer.

He sighed. "I guess. As long as you don't disappear without telling me or spend an unhealthy amount of time with him like Bella did with...Edward."

I didn't nod or say anything in response. I couldn't promise anything to him. Paul and I weren't hanging around each other all of the time, but with how much I wanted to be around him, I knew I couldn't tell my dad I wouldn't be spending an "unhealthy amount of time with him." I honestly didn't know what would happen. I liked Paul a lot and anything was possible.

* * *

"What do you mean? Where's Bella?" I demanded to know. I had expected Jacob to have taken her home safely, but when Paul dropped me off I saw Jacob standing in front of my house staring down the road.

"She's gone," he said and he sounded empty.

"Gone _where_?"

"To see the Volturi or something," Jacob muttered under his breath.

"What?!" I began hitting my fist against his chest after every word. "Why. Would. You. Let. Her. Go?" The last hit was with a lot of force and pain shot through my hand. Damn shape-shifters and their strong built bodies. "Ow! That really hurts." I shook my hand trying to get rid of the pain.

"Olivia," Paul said as he held my hand and attempted to rub the pain away. "Don't do that. You'll hurt yourself." He didn't say it in an arrogant way, but in a genuine tone because he was actually concerned about me. It was stupid of me to have even tried to do that to Jacob, a shape-shifter, but hey, I tried.

I sighed and nodded my head. I felt Paul's arm wrapping around my shoulders and I calmed down a little. He had that effect on me. "Did she say anything about our dad?" I asked.

"She told me she left a note for him," Jacob replied.

"This doesn't make any sense though. What do you mean she went to see the Volturi? By herself? Why?"

He shook his head. "No. She didn't go by herself. That Cullen girl… Alice was her name. They went together. There was a misunderstanding. Edward called asking for Charlie and I told him he wasn't home and that he was arranging a funeral. I made him think that...that Bella died. That's why Edward is going to the Volturi. He wants to get himself killed too."

"Oh, God. Jacob, why would you do that?" I questioned him. "You know how much Bella loves Edward! How could you do that to her?"

"Do you not understand?!" He yelled angrily making me flinch. "Do you not get how I feel about her?"

Paul's face turned angry. "Don't yell at her," he said through clenched teeth.

My face softened and I stopped Paul from stepping closer to Jacob. I didn't want them to phase, especially not when someone from my neighborhood could be watching.

"No, Paul. It's okay. Jacob is right. I should have known. Look, Jacob. I'm sorry. I know how you feel. It's just-Bella is in love, okay? And if you truly love her, you would let her go."

Jacob glared at me for a long moment before he stormed off running into the woods. I heard the familiar sound of clothes shredding and knew that he had phased.

"He's going to hate me," I said mostly to myself.

"No he won't. He's only angry because what you said is right," Paul replied.

"Do you think Bella will be okay?" I asked Paul.

"As much as I hate to say this, the Cullens are good. Your sister will be back home safely," Paul assured me.

* * *

After Jacob left, I invited Paul inside to stay a little longer. My dad was going to be home late and I didn't feel like being home all alone after everything that had happened today. When we entered my room, I saw a quick glance at myself in the mirror and I did a double take. I started laughing as I looked at my reflection. "Look at me. I look ridiculous. How in the world did you manage to keep a straight face while looking at me?" I asked Paul as I tried to get the smudges of eyeliner off the bottom of my eye.

"You still look beautiful to me."

I froze before slowly turning around. "Do you really mean that?"

"Of course."

I smiled. "It's the first time a guy has told me that," I mumbled to myself, but he heard me anyway. "Thank you."

What happened next was unexpected. He began leaning into me.

 _Oh my gosh. He's about to kiss me!_

I pressed my hands on his chest and pushed him away. "Paul. I really like this whole imprinting thing. It feels...nice, but I don't exactly know if I want to kiss you yet." He looked hurt. I quickly spoke again to prevent him from misunderstanding what I was saying. "Don't take this the wrong way. I'm not rejecting you or anything! It's all just overwhelming right now. Remember when you told me that since you've imprinted on me, you can be whatever I need you to be? A protector, a lover, or a friend? Well, I've only known you for a little over a week now and I would like to get to know you a lot better before anything happens between us. Do you understand what I'm saying? I'm sorry if I'm hurting you by saying this. I know how strongly this whole imprinting thing affects you shape-shifters...I don't want to hurt you-"

"Shh," he silenced me by pressing his thumb against my lips. "Don't apologize. You don't need to. I understand what you're saying. _I'm_ the one who should be apologizing. I'll take things as slow as you want." His hand caressed the side of my face and he watched me closely before looking away. "God," he groaned.

"What is it?"

"Embry is right. I am becoming unlike my usual self."

And just like that the mood lightened up again.

"You mean not like the usual tough guy that you are?" I asked with a teasing voice. "Because if so, don't worry about it. I think you're only gentle when you're with me." A light blush appeared on my face as I told him this.

He grinned. "I think you're right. _You_ make me behave this way."

"Is that bad?"

"No, it's good because it means that you make me happy."

 _Wow._ I nearly swooned. There wasn't anything better than a hot guy telling you that you brought him happiness. Where had he been my whole life? At this moment, I felt foolish for having liked any other guy who wasn't Paul over the years. No teenage boy could compare to him. He was simply amazing.

I had this sudden urge to ignore what I had just told him and wanted to kiss him anyway, but I knew I shouldn't when we hadn't even known each other for more than a week. It just didn't feel right that way. I wanted to get to know him first. Since I couldn't kiss him, I decided to do something else instead. I wrapped my arms around him and pressed my body close to his. I put my face against his warm chest. He seemed surprised at first, but he quickly reacted by hugging me back. I felt guarded in his arms.

I don't know how long we stood like that, but I was most definitely sure that it was for a few minutes. We were memorizing what it felt like and we were also enjoying each other's company.

"Go out with me."

"Hmm?" I mumbled, not bothering to bring my head up. I hated sounding like a clingy girl, but I liked how warm he felt and I didn't want to let go. Ever.

"You and me. Dinner. This Friday," he said in a tone that sounded like I had no choice. I wasn't complaining though. A date with the handsome shape-shifter who claimed I was his everything? Yes, I would totally go.

"Mm," I made a sound of contentment. "Sounds good, Paul."

* * *

 _Author's Note:_ _All right. So that was the end of the second chapter. Once again, I hope you enjoyed reading it. I would really appreciate it if you guys could take a minute or two to write me a review giving me feedback on my story. I want to know if my readers are satisfied or if they aren't. I am open to criticism, but please do not write it in a mean way. We should all respect each other on this website :)_

 _Thank you!_ _Okay bye! (insert Frozen reference lol)_

 _Please REVIEW!~_

 _-Jane_


	3. Date Gone Wrong

Chapter 3: Date Gone Wrong

April 2006

"Oh my God!" Jessica shouted after she threw her plastic fork down on the table. "You're going on a date tonight? With _who_?"

"Jesus Christ! Jess, be quiet," I shushed her. "The whole cafeteria is going to hear you."

She looked embarrassed for a moment before she shook her head and gave me a look that she had it under control. "It's fine. I wasn't _that_ loud. So come on. Tell us. Who is this guy and why didn't you tell us sooner?"

"His name is Paul," I began to say. "And he's from La Push."

"Oh." Jessica looked disappointed. "So he's one of those long haired dorks."

Angela gasped. "Jessica!" she rebuked her. "That's really rude."

My curly haired friend shrugged like it was no big deal. "I'm right, aren't I?"

"No. Actually you aren't," I said firmly. "He's the total opposite."

"Okay then. Is he hot?"

"Maybe," I replied to keep Paul a mystery. I knew that if I told Jessica how much I liked him, she would demand to know _everything._ I obviously didn't want that to happen so I planned on leaving Jessica to her imagination.

"So he isn't attractive," Jessica assumed.

I shrugged. "I don't know. I guess you'll find out if you ever get to meet him." _If only you knew how hot he is_ , I thought to myself.

"Where are you two going for dinner?" she pried.

I looked at her with amusement. "I'll tell you what kind of place we're going to, but not where it is."

"Why not?!"

"Because you'll probably follow us and I don't want that happening."

"Ugh, I'm curious though," she groaned before sighing. "Fine. Are you guys going somewhere fancy?"

"No. Just a family diner."

"Bella, did you know about this?" Jessica asked thinking maybe the other Swan would fill her in with the details.

"Uh, yeah," Bella said with a nod even though she had no clue what Jessica was talking about. She had been lost in a conversation with Edward so she hadn't really known what Jessica had asked her.

Yes, Bella was back safely from Italy. Oh, and guess who else was back? Edward and the rest of the Cullens too of course. They were back in school and it was like they had never even gone away. Bella's life was finally back to normal. However, one thing had changed. She was grounded. Yep, that had happened. . . Our dad was pretty disappointed and angry with her. He also wanted to keep Edward away so the whole grounding process prevented them from "seeing" each other. Little did he know that Edward came in through Bella's window and stayed with her all night every day.

Because I knew that the Cullens were vampires now, I could finally pinpoint the reason why somehow they stood out from the rest of us. They were truly too beautiful to be humans. It seemed like Bella's presence had affected them all. They were interacting with our friends, which they hadn't done before. Well, excluding Rosalie who didn't show too much liking towards Bella or any human in general. Jasper, Alice, and Edward joined us at the lunch table for the third time this week and although it felt strange and we were getting curious looks from the other students, it seemed like most of my friends were pleased with them being there.

"Is he cute?" Jessica asked and my sister looked confused.

Alice spoke before Bella could ask what we were talking about. "No, he isn't." Her nose was pointed upward like she was disgusted by even hearing about him.

I pretended to be angry. "Hey!" I yelled playfully.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Fine. He's okay looking, but that doesn't matter. I still don't _like_ him."

Yes, because she was a vampire and he was a shape-shifter. They were natural enemies. Obviously Jessica didn't know that nor did any of my friends.

"He must have gotten on your bad side," Angela commented at Alice.

"You have no idea," I mumbled earning a look from the short-haired vampire.

"So are we going shopping today then? We have to get you ready to look fabulous!" Jessica said with excitement.

"Jess, it's just a casual dinner," I insisted. "Nothing fancy! I already told you. Besides, the date is tonight. We should have gone shopping earlier. We shouldn't be planning on going today."

"Well, you should have told me about the date earlier, but you didn't!" She ignored what I told her and didn't back down from her plans. "It doesn't matter. We're going! How about we go right after school?"

"I have violin lessons on Fridays at 3, remember? How about after? Around 4:30," I replied giving into her idea. She somehow always managed to bring me out of my home to go somewhere and hang out no matter what mood I was in.

"Sure." Jessica nodded before saying, "I don't understand why you still take violin lessons. You already got into Juilliard and obviously you're like a pro. What's the point?"

I shrugged. "There's always room for more practice."

While I had been going to Phoenix High, I had been in my school's symphony orchestra which was known for being one of the best in the state. Now that I was in Forks, I couldn't join an orchestra. There wasn't one available in Forks High because there weren't enough students and other opportunities were too far away. The least I could do was continue taking private lessons. There was a retired violinist a few houses down my neighborhood and she taught violin at her home. I was one of the few special kids who were able to learn from her.

"Right. Olivia, the perfectionist," Jessica said sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm _not_ a perfectionist."

"Yeah, sure."

* * *

 _Oh, God. Oh, God._ I was expecting Paul to come pick me up in only less than a few minutes and I wasn't even done getting ready yet. It wasn't because I had spent a long time trying to make myself look pretty. It was because I had been at the mall with Jessica and Angela for too long. I came home and started my homework and when I looked at the time, I realized that I only had twenty minutes. It was a horrible feeling to be in such a hurry while getting ready for a first date.

I had my usual everyday eye makeup on except I had put on a little bit of eyeshadow to add a slight "oomph" to my appearance. I debated whether or not to put on lipgloss, but thought of how I had heard how guys didn't like it when girls wore lip products. There was obviously a reason why and it had a lot to do with let's see...Making out. Yep, so in the end I decided with no lipgloss and no lipstick.

I heard a knocking noise and ran to my window and sure enough, there was an old truck parked outside that I hadn't seen before. It was probably Paul's or maybe his father's. Our house was old and we didn't have a doorbell which explained the knocking.

"Olivia! Your friend is here," I heard my dad yelling.

I rolled my eyes. He couldn't accept the fact that I was going out on a date because he had never seen me go on one. The last time I had been on a date was in my freshman year and it had also been the first time. It was so long ago and I didn't want to remember it, but it was difficult not to. It had been pretty awkward. Two innocent looking nervous kids going to the movies together. Oh, and also the sloppy first kiss that came with it. How could I forget that unpleasant moment?

As I passed by Bella's room, I saw her reading a book for English. She was grounded so she wasn't allowed out in the evening, but that didn't mean she couldn't see Edward. Like I said, he came to visit her every night. It was sort of creepy to know that he usually crept in when it got dark without our dad even knowing, but hey, if Bella was okay with it, I would have to be okay with it. Who knew what in the world they were doing in her room though? Was it even possible for a human and a vampire to have sex? Wouldn't it be dangerous? Being right next door to them made me cringe when my mind went dirty, but there was nothing much I could do about it.

I quickly ran down the stairs seeing Paul and my dad having what seemed like a staring contest. "I want her home by ten," my dad said giving Paul an I-don't-take-excuses look.

"I'll make sure that happens," Paul nodded. I noticed how much taller Paul was compared to my dad, but my dad didn't look intimidated at all.

"Okay, I'm ready!" I felt Paul's gaze on me, but I tried to ignore it. I was feeling nervous and I wasn't sure if I was ready to look him in the eye. Before my dad could add anything else to say I grabbed Paul's hand and dragged him out. "Bye Dad!"

"Ten, okay?" I heard him yell at us as we walked towards Paul's truck. We got in and I heard Paul chuckling beside me.

"What?" I asked.

He shook his head. "It's just-Your dad is pretty funny."

"You mean to say he's unnecessarily overprotective, right?"

He started the engine and only a few seconds later, we were backing out of the driveway. It was weird to me because I was one of those people who took their time putting on their seatbelt, adjusting the mirrors, putting on music, etc. before driving. Paul was the complete opposite. He was one of the fast people.

We were now on the road.

"It's not really his fault," I told him. "He's just trying his best to be a great dad, but sometimes he goes a bit overboard on the whole 'I'm your dad' stuff. Mostly because of what happened with Edward."

"So _he's_ the reason why it took you lots of persuading for your dad to allow you to go out on a simple date?"

"Yeah, pretty much. As you know, my dad is a police officer and that's another reason. He knows something is off about Edward, but he doesn't say anything about it. He probably knows how happy Bella is with Edward and doesn't want to do anything to break the good mood."

"Well, if _he_ is planning on sticking around, I better start impressing your dad."

"Competition, huh?" I asked referring to him and Edward.

"Please," he said rolling his eyes. "If it's me against that leech, there _is_ no competition because it'll always be me who wins."

I noticed how he never called Edward by his name. It was usually just 'leech' or 'bloodsucker.' It made sense considering that he hated vampires, but the other members of the pack didn't seem to mind calling the Cullens by their names once in awhile. Maybe that just showed how stubborn Paul could be.

"I believe in you," I replied with a grin. I really did. I was slowly becoming more biased. I thought werewolves were so much cooler than vampires much to Bella's dislike. We both had different reasons to think so though. Therefore, we had to respect each other's opinions.

* * *

When we arrived at the family diner and were walking in together, that was when I noticed that Paul was wearing. He had on a full set of clothes. The last time I had seen him, he had been shirtless wearing only pants, but tonight was a little different. He looked nice. He was wearing cut off jeans, which wasn't a surprise and he had on a light blue collared shirt that wasn't buttoned so I could see the white undershirt he was wearing. He was obviously still dressed lightly for the cold weather, especially compared to me in my sweater, but of course I understood why. To think of it, it actually looked like he had come in a rush, throwing on a top and making his way here (although he still looked flawless). He had come on time though, which meant he thought our date was important. It was reassuring to know that because even though I was his _imprint,_ I still wasn't exactly sure what that really meant. How strong was the bond? I guessed that time would tell.

A waitress came over to our table. She was eyeing Paul curiously. He looked up at her once before turning his face away. He appeared annoyed by her presence. This didn't seem to faze her in any way. "Hi, I'm Amy. I'll be serving you tonight. Can I get you two anything to drink?"

"Um, water is fine," I said. "Paul?"

"Same," he stated.

What was wrong with him?

"Should I give you a little more time to look over the menu?"

"No, we're ready to order," I replied before she could leave because usually it took them a long time before they came back if they left to 'give more time.'

After Amy wrote down our orders and walked away, Paul's mood seemed to return back to normal. If we were in a closer relationship, I would have asked what was wrong, but I felt that it was better to stay silent about it and not question him.

"So were you on a patrol before you came to pick me up?"

"Yeah, I was," he nodded. "How did you know?"

I smiled. "I can see it in the way you dressed."

He glanced down at himself before looking at me again. "Sorry," he said as he rubbed the back of his neck like he was embarrassed. Yes, a guy like Paul was actually looking embarrassed. Well, almost.

"No, don't apologize," I quickly responded. "I was just pointing it out. I honestly don't care what you wear."

He didn't look so embarrassed anymore as a cheeky grin appeared on his face. "Is that an indirect way of you telling me that you want to see me without clothes on?"

"Oh my gosh, Paul. I totally did not say that," I replied as my eyes narrowed.

He chuckled before changing the subject. "So you're a senior, right?"

"Yep. And you are?" I asked.

"I'm a senior too, but I started phasing the day after my birthday so I'm going to be stuck at the age of seventeen for now."

"Will you ever stop phasing?" I asked wondering if I would be entering my thirties and he would still be looking like a teenager. I was sure it wouldn't be that bad though. Even though Paul was a high schooler at the moment, he already looked like a hot college guy.

"Yeah, eventually I'll stop phasing," he said with a nod. He didn't explain how or when. "Don't worry. It'll be soon enough."

 _Soon enough for what?_ I wanted to ask, but I chose not to.

Throughout dinner, we were able to find out more about each other. Somehow we kept asking each other all the right questions and it allowed us to discover things that brought us closer. His parents like mine had divorced, but for him it had happened when he was eight. His dad had brought him back to La Push while his mother got remarried. He didn't speak much of her. I didn't blame him. She had practically abandoned him. It was a good thing his dad was there for him. Paul revealed to me that he didn't exactly grow up under a good influence. His dad was out working and came home late all the time that he was always lonely, stirred up trouble, and mostly grew up on his own. To this day, he didn't have a good relationship with his dad. Apparently Paul skipped school a lot and because of his shape-shifter duties, he didn't come home often either. His dad thought he was being rebellious and was extremely displeased demanding to know what was with him, but he couldn't tell his dad the truth. Paul also revealed and admitted that he had very bad anger issues and that it had gotten harder to control after he began phasing, but he promised me he would work on controlling himself and I told him I would help. I didn't know how, but I knew I would try. He told me that he was scared he would lose control around me and accidentally hurt me. Hearing that made me want to help even more. He was worried that telling me this would scare me off, but it had the opposite effect on me to his surprise.

Talking about his temperament led to the topic of what had happened to Emily's face and how it had happened. He had been there when the accident occurred and was the one to bring Emily to Sue Clearwater. Since he saw the damages first hand, I could tell he was extremely worried and acted carefully in front of me. It did freak me out a little to know that he was capable of tearing me into shreds if he wanted to, but I reminded myself that he was my imprinter, whatever that truly was. Speaking of imprints, Paul mentioned that there was another pair other than Sam and Emily. To my disbelief, Jared had imprinted on a girl named Kim who also lived on the reservation. It was hard to imagine because Jared behaved like such an ass most of the time. I couldn't wait to see how sensitive he got in front of his imprint. Oh, how excited I was to start teasing him.

After finishing our dinner, I excused myself from the table and went to the bathroom. I thought it would be a good idea to check to make sure my makeup hadn't smudged and to see if I had anything stuck in my teeth. Thankfully, I was fine. I picked up my side bag and headed back to our table. I was smiling because the date was going extremely well and I was starting to develop strong feelings of attraction for Paul, but the smile completely left my face when I saw Paul and the waitress, Amy talking to each other. I stopped walking and stood off to the side watching the scene unfold. I was close enough to hear what they were saying.

Amy was leaning in so close to Paul that it looked like she was talking into his ear. The act looked seductive. "What's this? Has Paul Lahote finally decided to settle down?" I heard her asking.

"Get the fuck away from me," he grunted in response as he shrugged her hand off his shoulder.

"Not until you tell me why you won't answer any of my calls."

"I'm not interested in sluts like you, all right?"

Amy looked furious. "Look who's talking, man-whore. Do you want me to remind you of the girls you've fucked who weren't me?"

My heart clenched with hurt feelings as I heard her talking. She had called Paul a 'man-whore.' Was he a player? Or had he been? Amy's words revealed that he had slept with a lot of girls and that made me freak out. Did he know I was a virgin? Was he expecting something from me? What if the whole imprinting thing wasn't all true? I began doubting everything he told me and my insecurities took on.

"I'm different now, okay? I'm not the same Paul you knew before."

Amy laughed with sarcasm. "Yeah, totally I believe you." She paused for a moment before saying, "You do know how important it is to preserve ourselves, don't you?"

"Meaning what?"

"You shouldn't be dating a white girl. Are you planning on making mixed babies with her, huh? That would be such a disappointment to our tribe."

"Shut the fuck up!" Paul growled. "You're the one who's living in Forks and I've heard you've been hooking up with some guys from there. You're being a hypocrite. Nothing has changed about you. The same old bitch."

 _Forks?_ I suddenly realized that I had seen Amy around school before. She was the new 'transfer' student.

She didn't seem to care about being called a bitch, but _I_ didn't know how I felt when I heard it. Paul seemed so casual swearing and it made me see him under a different light. Would he ever talk to me that way? "Aren't I always? Listen, I know what's good for you and it's not her," she said as she slid a finger down his chest.

"You don't know anything," he said as he snatched her hand off his body.

"I do, Paul. I do," she said. "After all, we've slept together. I know everything about you."

He snorted. "If you think so, then I guess I know everything about you too and you know what? You're just a piece of trash."

Out of nowhere, a waiter bumped into me. Thankfully, he was able to balance the plates in his hands and kept them in place. "Sorry!" he apologized as he continued on his way. This little incident had caused a commotion and people were looking my way including Paul and Amy.

Paul's eyes locked with mine and he looked surprised to see me. I didn't know why, but I couldn't take it anymore. I didn't think I could just walk up to Paul and pretend like I hadn't heard the conversation. I couldn't confront him about it either. Why was I so hurt? I didn't know. Was I being stupid? Finding out that Paul had been with many girls somehow made me feel like I had been lied to. Paul was attractive and he had charmed his way into my heart, but now I felt mad and sad at the same time. I was just some girl he had met recently. I meant nothing to him. He called me 'beautiful,' but was that just a lie?

I broke the eye contact and turned around to exit the restaurant. I made it outside and I began speed-walking towards the direction that would lead me home. It would take a long time to walk all the way there, but it was possible to do.

"Olivia!" I heard Paul's voice and I began walking faster. Abruptly, I was pulled back and pushed against the brick wall of the diner. "Let me explain myself."

"There's nothing to explain," I told him as tears welled my eyes. "I heard everything."

He looked hurt and also guilty. "There's more to it. I was going to tell-"

"No, Paul. I don't want to hear it. Not right now. I just want to go home."

There was a long pause before he nodded. "Okay. I'll take you home," he said softly.

I shook my head. "I'm walking," I said.

He frowned. "It's too cold for you and it'll take a long time. Just get in-"

I interrupted him. "Paul, I've got it. Just leave me alone." I pulled my hand from his grasp and it hurt my heart even more to realize how cold it felt without the warmth of his touch radiating onto my skin.

* * *

I thought about calling my dad to pick me up, but I didn't want him to know about what had happened with Paul. How would I explain it anyway? Plus, if I told him, he would give me the 'I told you so' speech and I really didn't want to hear that. Calling Bella was no use either. She was grounded. I sighed as I dragged my feet against the ground wondering when I would actually get home.

Five minutes.

Ten minutes.

Fifteen minutes.

Twenty minutes.

Now I had another good ten or fifteen minutes left before I would actually arrive at home. I was starting to get tired and I was desperate to get into bed. As I walked, I had thought a lot about Paul and I. Maybe we had never been a good fit. Maybe we weren't good together. Amy was right. I didn't suit him. He deserved to meet a pretty La Push girl like her, not someone like me.

Laughter erupted from a few feet behind me without any warning and it felt like my heart dropped low and came back up. There was a group approaching and I was surprised. Who else was out walking at this time? I didn't turn around. Instead, I looked straight ahead and crossed the street to avoid the strangers, but I heard them following me. Their footsteps grew louder and I knew they were after me.

 _I should have had Paul drive me home,_ was the first thought that came to my mind.

* * *

 _Review Replies:_

Jessie the twilight girl: _Thank you for the review! I'm so happy to know that you agree with my interpretation of the imprinting process. I'm glad to know you like Paul and Olivia together too :)_

lucefatale: _Thank you!_

X Blue Eyed Demon X: _Thank you! I'm glad you're liking it so far._

wickedpeach: _Omg, it makes me feel so glad to hear that Paul doesn't seem out of character! Hopefully I'll be able to develop more Leah and Olivia scenes. It would be an interesting friendship. Thank you for reviewing._

Eternal Sailor Solar: _Thank you so much!_

Jamiemorgan113: _Thank you! It means a lot :D_

Guest Reviewer: _Thank you for the kind words!_

* * *

 _Author's Note: Hello! Once again, thanks for the follows and favorites! It seriously blew my mind to see the notifications. Thank you, readers! I feel bad for not being able to update quickly, but I was stressing about school. I had to take my final exams. I'm done now, but I registered for three courses in the spring/summer semester so I'll be going back to school this week. Hopefully I'll be able to write a lot more this summer, but like I said I am taking three courses and one of them is a really hard science course so I'm not too sure if I'll have more time. I'll try my best though! :)_

 _I know this chapter is so short compared to my first two posts, but I honestly didn't have much motivation to write. The only time I have available should be used for studying, but of course that doesn't happen lol (insert YouTube, TV shows, movies, etc.). I feel like I'm living a really uninteresting life right now and it kind of makes me want to be even lazier than I already am._

 _I don't want to be annoying or anything, but please leave a REVIEW after you finish reading this new chapter! Hehe. After all, it's the only inspiration I have to continue writing. Anyway, I thank you for coming by to read another chapter of my fanfic._

 _Btw, about Paul's grade and age...I changed them to accommodate my story better! So yes, he is a senior in high school like Olivia and Bella. Also, I sincerely hope you didn't think Olivia was annoying in this chapter. Personally, if I went on a first date with a guy I don't really know and found out he was a player, I would be a bit cautious and scared that he was using me or something...So yeah, I hope you understand her reaction._

 _REVIEW please! Thank you._

 _-Jane_


	4. Vampires Inside My House

_Author's Note: Here's a long chapter for you lovely readers! This is definitely the longest chapter that I've ever written. It's like almost 10,000 words...Like wow. How in the world did that happen? Lol. I hope the many scene changes throughout this chapter aren't too confusing! Sorry if there are any grammar or punctuation mistakes (I don't think there are any, but there could be one or two). It's almost midnight and I'm super tired. I'm going to post this and go directly to bed haha. Don't forget to REVIEW at the end! Thank you :)_

 _Btw, I know that in the Twilight books Eric and Angela are not dating, but in this fanfic they are (since they made this change in the movies and made Eric and Angela a couple). Overall, I'm taking the timeline from the films because it's way easier than reading the books all over again, but it will still stay close to the books. After all, I'm a big Twilight fan and have been since I was in middle school. If I see any potential inaccuracies, I'll definitely spot them and edit them out haha._

 _-Jane_

* * *

Chapter 4: Vampires Inside My House

"Hey!" one of the guys from the group yelled, but I ignored him and walked faster. Couldn't they just leave me alone?

"Hey! He's talking to you," a different guy said.

I could tell from their voices that these were not old creepy men. They were young guys, probably college aged or something. They weren't slurring their words, which revealed that they weren't under the influence of alcohol. They just had really bad intentions.

 _Oh God. I'm doomed,_ I muttered to myself. I felt my heart pounding against my chest.

I looked to my surroundings without moving my head so that the guys wouldn't know that I was planning on escaping them. There were a few houses close by, but they were still too far for me to reach easily. If I bolted off now and ran to one of the homes, the group would catch up with me quickly. Maybe it was better to take a chance though and find help.

I didn't have time to take the chance because without warning, I was pulled by the arm and harshly turned around to see the creeps. "You think we're stupid?" the first guy asked practically spitting into my face. It was revolting. "You thought we would let you get away?"

Before I could respond, his friend added, "Now what's a pretty little thing like you doing out here alone in the dark?"

"Obviously waiting for us to gangbang her."

 _Oh, God._ My eyes widened at the violent sounding word. My heart began thumping harder against my chest and I had a difficult time organizing the many thoughts that suddenly entered my head. I didn't know where my sudden confidence came from, but I was glad that I was able to find my voice. "My dad is a police officer. If you hurt me, he'll hunt you guys down and believe me, you don't want that happening," I told them.

One of the guys laughed. "Look, Jay. She's trying to threaten us."

"How cute," his friend said with a smirk.

"We don't fucking care," the guy I now knew was called Jay said. "And how would he find us if he didn't know you were taken in the first place?"

Realization slowly crossed my face.

"That's right. Who says we're letting you go once we're done with you? We're not letting you return. Ever." He stepped forward.

"Don't come any closer," I said as I took a big step back. "I'll scream."

"Well, I've got a knife," he replied dangerously. "I'm sure you don't want to see what'll happen if you choose to scream."

I froze.

"Good. Now stay quiet and we won't hurt you. Intentionally I mean…" His voice trailed off. He smiled as he came forward to pull his fingers through my hair.

I flinched when I felt him touching me. "Don't touch me," I snapped as I smacked his arm off. It wasn't a wise thing to do considering that he had just told me that he had a knife. I couldn't be still with his hand petting my hair though. What was I? His dog? I absolutely hated everything about him and I didn't want to feel his touch.

"You stupid bitch," he said with annoyance and anger. His hand twitched and I knew that he was about to hit me. I felt adrenaline starting to pump through me and I had a feeling that if he did strike me, I would be able to fight back. I didn't know if it was possible for a small girl like me to take him down, but I was scared for my life and I had an unknown urge to fight flowing inside me.

"Shit. There's a car coming," one of the guys said in warning to Jay.

There was indeed. I could hear it roaring as it approached.

I had to squint my eyes to look at the car. Its headlights were blinding to see from the contrast with the darkness. Whoever was driving the vehicle was definitely going over the 25 mph speed limit. It came closer and I could finally see what it looked like. I didn't know much about cars, but I had remembered seeing this one parked in my school's lot and Mike had been excited to take pictures of it. He had been the one to tell me the name of the model. It was a pretty expensive car and it didn't fit in with the rest of this small plain neighborhood of Forks.

The vehicle came to an abrupt stop in front of us and I felt my nerves vanishing slowly. The door opened and Alice Cullen stepped out. "Come. Get in the car," she said like it was no big deal that I was being trapped in between three males on the middle of the street. I noticed how she didn't give away my name.

The three guys laughed. "And who are you?"

"You don't need to know who I am," Alice said with her arms crossed.

"Oh! She's a feisty one."

"I like her."

The short haired petite vampire rolled her eyes. "Come on," she repeated to me, giving me an earnest expression.

"What makes you so sure that we're going to let her go?" Jay asked.

"You don't want to challenge me," Alice replied sounding perfectly confident.

Jay along with his two friends were obviously feeling enchanted by Alice. They didn't have a clue that she was an immortal being, but they did know that she was the most beautiful person they had ever laid their eyes on. If only they knew part of the reason behind her beauty. They would probably run away and never come back.

Just as the group of three were about to tempt her, the door from the passenger side opened and Jasper Hale came out. He had a deadly look in his eyes and I was once more reminded that vampires could be extremely scary. I had no idea why Bella liked being around them even after everything she had gone through. They were basically monsters. More so than shape-shifters. Once again, maybe I was biased. I didn't know.

"You'll let her go," Jasper said in a low voice and he sounded menacing. Even though I knew he was on _my_ side, I was still scared. I wouldn't want to mess with him.

Jay's shoulders seemed to sag a bit as he realized that Jasper wasn't going to be easy to fight. "All right. All right," he said as he took his hands off of me raising them up like a person would do to surrender in front of the police.

I didn't waste a second to run towards Alice. She gave me a quick hug before pushing me behind her like she was trying to shield me. It was ironic considering that I was taller than her. My height was 5 ft. 5 and that wasn't exactly short or tall, but being next to Alice made me feel like a model (height-wise of course and not by appearance). I had to admit that I understood that she was capable of protecting me from anything if she had to. After all, she was a vampire.

Jasper and Alice coming to my rescue sort of reminded me of Bella's story of how Edward had saved her the night she had been in Port Angeles. A few minutes ago, I had been in the same situation as her. I could have been raped or even worse. It was frightening to know that, but I was glad that I was safe now. I pressed my hand against my chest feeling my heartbeat becoming less rapid and more normal.

"He's not going to kill them, is he?" I whispered frantically. This seemed to be a question I asked often after finding out that vampires and shape-shifters were real and it felt strange. It definitely was not a usual thing to be talking about who was killing who on a normal basis.

Sure. My friends said things like, " _I'm gonna kill you!"_ all the time when they got mad at each other. However, if those same words came out from a vampire or a shape-shifter's mouth, they actually meant it.

"I wish he could, but no. That's not what we do," Alice said with a shake of her head. "We plan on staying in town. We don't want to do anything that will risk us being put under scrutiny."

I finally let out a breath. Those three guys deserved punishment, but they didn't deserve death. That was a bit too…violent. Yes, they were bad people, but they hadn't actually _done_ anything to me. I didn't even know if anything would happen to them. Would I be able to press charges?

"What is he going to do then?" I asked, questioning Jasper's actions.

"You'll see," Alice answered.

"Look. We don't want any trouble," I heard Jay saying and I glared at him although he couldn't see me.

"You're not in trouble at the moment," Jasper replied, "but you will be when the cops arrive."

"The c-cops?" one of them stammered in nervousness.

"Aw, hell no. I don't want to go back to jail!"

 _Well, you shouldn't have bothered me then,_ I thought.

Jasper grabbed Jay who was the biggest out of the trio by the collar of his shirt and slammed him against the tree behind him. "Don't you dare try to run away. I will kill you." I thought I could hear traces of a Texan accent as he spoke.

Oh, there it was again. The topic of killing...

I couldn't see Jasper's face, but from the way Jay's eyes widened and how he shook from under his hold, I could tell that Jasper looked vicious.

Bright lights were flashing and sounds of sirens filled my ears. Alice and I watched as a police car came down the road and stopped behind Alice's vehicle. It was like something that happened in movies. It was all perfect timing. An officer and his partner stepped out and they took over from there.

After I was interviewed by one of the officers, I turned to Alice. "I can't believe you guys called the cops," I said in disbelief.

She shrugged. "It seemed like the fair way to deal with these disgusting men."

"But-"

"Olivia," she cut me off because she knew what I was going to say. "Please remember that not all vampires are bad and violent." Her eyes begged me to agree with her.

I suddenly felt bad. She was right. Obviously not all vampires were bad. I had to admit, the Cullens were actually good people-vampires I mean.

"So how did you know I would be here?" I asked, changing the subject.

"I saw your future," she explained.

"Oh," I said sounding a little stupid. What else was I supposed to say though? I still wasn't used to knowing about these vampire gifts like how Alice could see the future and Jasper could control emotions. Well, there was a lot more to their gifts, but this was the most basic way to put it.

"It was weird," she continued to say. "I saw what was going to happen to you, but I didn't see where you came from or who you were with before the group approached you. It was quite unusual. It was like your future was blocked. There was nothing I could sense."

"Is something wrong with me?" I asked.

"No..." she replied unsurely before a frown took over her face. "Okay. I think I do know why I wasn't able to see you. You were with Paul!"

I gave her a look of confusion. "What does that have to do with anything?" I wasn't so happy to hear his name.

"I can't see the future if there's a Quileute shape-shifter in it. It happened with Bella last month when Jacob pulled her out of the water after her stupid cliff jump. I thought she was dead because I wasn't able to see him pull her out." I could tell that she was about to rant about how I shouldn't be around Paul, but she closed her mouth. She must have sensed that something bad had happened between Paul and I because she didn't ask any questions nor did she say anything about him. "Anyway, we came as fast as we could."

I looked at Jasper when I heard Alice saying 'we'. He gave me a small nod. He was back to his quiet self. I didn't think he was anti-social or anything. He was just the newest addition to the Cullen family and he had to be on his best behavior to keep his thirst under control.

"Thank you, both," I told them. "If it weren't for you..."

"You're welcome," Alice interrupted giving me a gentle smile. She didn't want me to finish my sentence. She knew what would have happened if they hadn't come to save me.

Another set of headlights appeared and I turned my head. I saw my dad's familiar police cruiser pulling up. I wasn't surprised to see him. If there had been an emergency call made, that meant my name had been given to the dispatch operator, and of course they had looked me up and notified my dad.

He looked tired, but distraught. He had his jacket over his night clothes and I knew that he had run out of the house immediately after getting the call about me.

"Olivia!" Bella's tough and boyish voice pierced the air. My twin sister had come with our dad. She ran over to me and I secretly worried she would trip over her own feet and fall because clumsiness ran in our family. Well, not counting my dad of course because if he had been clumsy, he wouldn't have been able to hold an important job like a police officer. Bella wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into a very tight hug. It still felt a tiny bit awkward, but I ignored the feeling. Bella wasn't really a good hugger and I already knew that from years and years of trying to get her to hug me. She just didn't like being touchy with anyone, except Edward probably. "Are you okay?" She stepped back to take a look at me.

I nodded giving her an assuring smile although I wasn't exactly okay on the inside. I didn't know how I felt. I wasn't traumatized or anything, but I wasn't completely fine either. It still felt surreal knowing that I could have been in a bad situation. I knew that even if I woke up tomorrow morning, I still wouldn't be able to believe what had happened. I learned one thing tonight: don't ever walk alone in the dark.

It was my dad's turn to hug me now. He was a bit stiff at first, but he slowly relaxed and embraced me like a father should. "You sure you're okay?" he asked, his dark eyes never looked so concerned before.

"Yes," I nodded quickly.

"Where's Paul?" He looked around. "Did something happen between you two?"

"I don't want to talk about him."

He took a deep sigh before nodding. "All right." He gave me a long look like he was expecting me to say something else.

"What, Dad? Do you expect me to be an emotional wreck?" I asked bitterly. I didn't know why I was suddenly so resentful. It wasn't my dad's fault this had happened to me. It wasn't exactly Paul's fault either because I had been the one who told him no when he said he would take me home, but I felt mad anyway. I was upset that he hadn't told me the truth about his long history of girls and I was upset that I had fallen for Paul so quickly without knowing the consequences. Who knew it would hurt so much to be in love? I could finally understand what Bella had felt during her troubles with Edward.

My heart skipped a beat. Wait...Was I in love with Paul? There was no way. This didn't make any sense. I had known him for only two weeks, which was half a freakin' month. This wasn't possible, but in a certain sense it was. I felt angrier when I realized that my love for him was inevitable. I just knew it. I couldn't control my emotions. It was probably the whole imprinting thing. He and I were soul mates. We were meant to be together. It frustrated me at this exact moment when I thought about it. Who was _he_ to come into my life and suddenly claim me like I was his belonging? Why did he have to imprint on _me_? Why me?!

At first I thought I was mad at Paul, but then I realized that I wasn't mad at him. I was mad at the idea of imprinting. None of this was Paul's fault. What if he didn't even want to be with me? He was probably angry himself that he couldn't be with other girls. He was connected to me and there was nothing else he could do about it.

"Olivia," my dad said quickly. "Are you sure you're all right?"

I bit my lip before closing my eyes and reopening them. I had to calm myself down before saying anything if I didn't want to speak words that would hurt my dad or my sister. When I felt like I had my emotions under control, I became suspicious. How did I go from emotional to relaxed in only a few seconds? I took a glance at Jasper to see him giving me a soft smile.

 _Jasper._ I wasn't annoyed that he had felt my emotions and had manipulated them to calm me down. I was actually grateful.

"I'm sorry for snapping at you, Dad. I'm fine," I assured him. "I might not have been if it weren't for Jasper and Alice...But they came before anything happened to me so I'm completely okay. I promise."

A police officer came over to us and our conversation was cut off. The man appeared to be similar to my dad's age. "Charlie, we're gonna go over to the station now to take care of these guys."

"I'll meet you there, Rick," my dad said.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "I mean, you don't have to. You're not even on shift."

"It doesn't matter. They tried harming my daughter. I want to be a part of the questioning and the paperwork."

"All right, then. We'll see you there," Rick replied before heading over to the driver's seat to hop in.

"I can trust Dr. Cullen's kids to take you and Bella home safely, right?"

"Don't worry, Charlie," Alice said in her usual cheerful voice. "We'll take them home safely."

My dad almost jumped in surprise when he heard Alice talking from out of nowhere because he hadn't thought she would hear him speaking, but he quickly covered his surprise. "Thank you," he said.

* * *

"Thanks for the ride," I said as I shut the door of the car Alice was driving.

"Yeah, thanks," Bella added with a nod.

"Anything for you two," Alice replied with a smile before it quickly faded away. "Ugh."

"What?" Bella asked.

"I can smell a dog," Alice said with a look of disgust on her face.

"A dog?" I repeated.

"Do you have one of the shape-shifters hidden here somewhere?" Alice asked with a roll of her eyes.

"Not that I know of-" I stopped myself when I saw Paul stepping out from the side of our house. He must have come from the woods. He was only in a pair of cut off shorts. No shoes. This told me that he had run from his home to here in his wolf form.

"Well, I guess we'll be going then," Alice said as she turned her face from Paul to me. "See you girls at school."

When the two vampires left, Bella stomped her way over to Paul without any warning. "You!" she yelled. "What is wrong with you? You took my sister out on a date and you didn't even bring her back home. She could have gotten-"

"Bella, please," I shook her arm as I stopped her. "Don't do this. It's not his fault."

"What do you mean? Of course it is. He-"

"Bella," I repeated. "Can you just go inside? I'll talk to him."

"Are you crazy?" she asked me incredulously. "Don't you remember what happened at Jacob's house? Paul could phase right now and he could hurt you!" She had noticed the anger in his eyes.

"He won't hurt me," I told her firmly, but honestly I wasn't as sure as I sounded.

Bella huffed. "Fine. I'll leave you two alone." She gave Paul one last look. "If you hurt her, Edward will kill you."

Paul didn't bother to say anything bad to her, which surprised me. He would have made a comeback to piss her off if this had been a different time, but he was obviously too occupied by other thoughts to reply to her. Bella entered the house and Paul began to question me. It was funny because I thought I would be the angry one, but when I looked at Paul, my anger completely vanished and he was the one to be angry.

"Why the hell did the Cullens give you a ride home?" Paul asked seething with rage. I wasn't sure if he was angry at me or at Alice and Jasper. Maybe both. "You told me you would walk home and then you called your precious little vampires to pick you up?"

"I didn't call them, okay? I got into some trouble and they helped me out."

Paul's facial expression changed in a split second. He was now worried. "What happened?"

"I was about five minutes away from home when these guys came up to me," I said and the way I told him what had happened didn't describe the situation as dangerously as it was. "Alice was able to see my future. She and Jasper came to save me."

Paul's face hardened. "Did these guys...Did they-"

"No." I shook my head. Tears suddenly welled in my eyes and I didn't know why. I hadn't even gotten hurt. I hadn't been touched inappropriately. Why was I being such a crybaby? There were victims out there who had gone through so much worse things. I wasn't in the position to be complaining. I had been fortunate enough to have been saved just in time. "They were going to...But nothing happened. The police came and arrested them."

My words didn't seem to have any effect to help Paul's anger loose steam. His body began to shake and I was scared that he would phase right there and then. How would the act of phasing be explained to a neighbor if they saw Paul transform into a giant wolf? I definitely did not want to find out.

"Paul, like I said, they were arrested. They've been taken care of."

"I don't care. I want to rip their fucking heads off."

"Paul, stop it. Calm down," I begged.

He was still shaking and on the edge of phasing. If I didn't do something, it would be only a matter of seconds before he lost control and phased. I didn't think. I just reacted. I got on the tips of my toes and pressed my hands behind his head bringing him down. I pressed my lips against his and kissed him hard. When I thought of kissing Paul a few days ago, I felt nervous thinking it could go very badly. But when I decided to kiss him just a few seconds ago, I had no time to feel nervous. I just went for it. As our lips moved smoothly together, I began thinking how perfect this kiss was. It was my first _real_ kiss and it was absolutely perfect. Paul's body stopped shaking and he quickly responded to me. I melted into him as he moved his hands down my back bringing me closer and making my legs feel like jelly. I felt a small boost of confidence as I realized that _I_ had been the one to calm him down. Just by the touch of my lips, he was able to get under control.

He stopped the kiss abruptly, but he still held me close. "What was that for? I thought you were upset-"

"I was upset with you for not telling me about the many girls you've been with," I told him honestly, "but it's hard to stay mad at you. I overreacted by pushing you way. I shouldn't have done that. I can tell...I can feel how much you care about me. I just-I'm scared, Paul. This imprinting thing isn't something that involved your decision. It just happened. You're being forced to be with me and I don't know how I feel about that."

"Liv," he called me by the shortened name that his pack members called me by and I felt my insides tingling with delight although I didn't show how I felt on the outside. "I admit that I've done some stupid things and I've fooled around with a lot of girls...I was a total douchebag. But the moment I met you, everything changed for me. I understand that you may think that I have no choice but to be with you because I've imprinted on you, but that's not true. That's not how imprinting works. You're important to me. You're the only thing that matters to me. I know you're afraid that I'll break your heart, but believe me. I don't want to hurt you. Seeing you hurt, pains me. I want to make you the happiest girl in the world, Liv. I really do and I promise that I'll never go back to those bad days of mine ever again. You're the only girl for me. Only you."

I knew that this was Paul's way of saying that he wouldn't be sleeping around with girls anymore. He was telling me that I was the only one for him. I believed him, but I still had doubts.

"Paul, what that girl Amy said...Preserving the tribe...She's right. Someone like me shouldn't be with you. It's not-"

His eyebrows furrowed in frustration. "Shut up, Olivia."

My eyes slightly widened at his rough words, but I knew he didn't mean to say it to me in an offending way. He was just trying to silence me.

"Don't you ever say that again. Stop doubting what we have because whether you like it or not, we belong together."

 _I do like it,_ I thought to myself.

"I'm not going to let anyone or anything get in our way," Paul said.

"I think I'm in love with you," I blurted and my face immediately reddened.

A smile slowly came across his face and at that exact moment, I couldn't name any popular celebrity who looked more handsome than he was. He was beautiful. "It's nice to know that you think you're in love with me," he said, "because I _know_ I'm in love with you."

"So we love each other after knowing each other for two weeks?" I questioned.

"Imprinting isn't supposed to make sense, Olivia."

* * *

(A few weeks later)

May 2006

It was a Monday morning and I was struggling to find my math folder. I had been pretty sure that I had placed it next to my keyboard piano. Why wasn't it there?

"If you're looking for the red folder, it's next to the printer." I looked up and saw my sister pointing towards my desk. Indeed, the math folder was where she had said it was.

"I swear I'm not losing my memory," I said with a laugh.

"If you say so," Bella said as she leaned across the door frame of my room. "So when are you telling Paul that you're going to college across the country?"

"I don't know," I shrugged. "Our relationship is still pretty new and I don't want to bring that up yet. I just kind of want to enjoy the moment, you know?"

"Do you think he'll get mad?"

"I'm not sure," I answered. "I hope he'll be understanding."

"Yeah, hopefully he'll be supportive," she said with a nod. "So uh, did you hear anything about Jacob?"

I knew why she was asking about him. Our dad had officially un-grounded Bella, but only if she agreed to hang out more with her friends including Jacob and less with Edward.

I shook my head giving her a sympathetic look. "No. Paul hasn't really mentioned anything."

"I can tell Paul doesn't like me."

"That's not true-" I stopped when Bella gave me a look telling me that I didn't have to pretend like it wasn't true. "Okay, fine. He's not exactly fond of you, but that can all change. He's just really protective over his pack members. You know they have strong bonds with one another. They're like blood-related brothers."

"I know," Bella nodded. "It's just... Jacob and I are best friends. I didn't think he would ignore me for this long."

"No offense, Bells. When you picked Edward, you lost Jacob. That's what happens when you're stuck in the middle of a love triangle. You can't have both guys. You pick one, you let the other one go. It's just how it works."

"You're right," she said with a sigh. "I just wish it didn't have to be this way. I love Edward and I want to be with him, but I want to stay friends with Jacob too."

"Well, unfortunately Jacob fell in love with you."

"Yeah, if only he didn't," Bella mumbled to herself but I heard her.

I tried to brighten up the mood. "Come on, Bells. Let's go outside before our boyfriends decide to kill each other."

"That sounds like a smart idea actually."

* * *

My friends had been surprised when Paul had dropped me off at school for the first time. I didn't blame them. He was unusually tall, he had a lean body with defined muscles, and he was good looking. They had thought that he was a college student just by his looks and were even more surprised when I had told them he was our age. Paul didn't know that Mike and I had gone out together once, but somehow tension had still formed between the two guys. I was glad that Paul didn't go to Forks High. I couldn't imagine what would happen if the two were left together for too long. It would be bad. Very bad.

Paul stopped his truck in front of where my group of friends were standing. I saw Jessica saying something to Angela but I didn't hear what it was. I saw Paul snickering from beside me.

"What?" I asked him.

"Your friend thinks I'm hot."

Obviously Jessica had mentioned that she thought my boyfriend was hot to Angela not knowing that he had super hearing and could hear her. I couldn't help but feel a little jealous. I trusted Jessica. She was one of my best friends here in Forks. I knew she wouldn't try flirting with Paul or anything, but I didn't like what she did. Why was she saying that about Paul when she knew that we were together?

I frowned. "She already said that the first time she saw you..."

"Is someone getting jealous?" he asked with a smirk.

"No!" I defended myself as I pulled off the seatbelt.

Paul knew that I was lying and that I was in fact jealous. He swiftly got out of his car and walked over to my side. He opened the door for me. I guessed he wanted to make me feel better by being a gentleman. I landed on my feet at an uncomfortable angle and I felt myself falling forward, but Paul caught me in his arms and held me up.

"Are you always so clumsy?" he asked in a soft voice so my friends who were standing a few feet behind him wouldn't hear. At least he had the courtesy to not embarrass me in front of them.

"I'm not that clumsy," I responded.

"Yeah, yeah. Sure," he said with a grin.

"Paul!" I whined not liking how he was silently teasing me.

Oh yeah. We were getting along real well. Okay, but all jokes aside, we really were getting along well. Nothing was awkward between us anymore. We were just going with the flow and it was working nicely for us so far.

I glanced down at my wedged heels. "It's hard to be in heels, okay?"

"You should stop wearing them then. It's as simple as that."

"I like heels. I feel tall with them on. And now that I'm dating you, it's more of a reason I need to wear them. I don't want to look like a midget standing next to you."

"I thought you liked being small compared to me. 'It makes it nice to cuddle.' Your exact words," he told me.

"I guess I did say that," I said with a laugh. "Anyway, there's a reason why I'm wearing heels today. These shoes match well with my skirt."

I waited for him to start complaining about how girls cared too much about fashion, but he didn't say anything like that. Instead, he looked down at my legs. "Make sure guys aren't staring down there," he practically growled.

"Okay," I giggled at his protectiveness.

"Come here," he said before pulling me into his body. He leaned down and gave me a long intimate kiss, one that would make me feel shy if people in public were watching.

 _Thanks a lot, Paul for kissing me so passionately in front of my friends,_ I thought to myself. _They'll probably make fun of me all day._

"Does that make you feel less jealous?" he asked as he turned his head to take a quick look at Jessica. She was gaping at us with her mouth slightly open.

"Maybe," I replied with flushed cheeks.

"Maybe?" he repeated as he raised an eyebrow. Without warning, he lightly grabbed my chin and leaned down to give me another kiss leaving me breathless when he pulled away this time. He gave me a wink. "Love you," he said before getting back into his car.

"I love you too," I said nearly in a whisper because I felt embarrassed under everyone's eyes, but he probably heard me anyway.

Paul drove away and Angela ran over to me squealing. "You two are so cute together!"

"So are you and Eric," I said trying to brush the attention off of me.

"You think so? Thanks," Angela replied looking happy.

Jessica gave me a big smile and I knew then that I had no reason to be jealous. Jessica was just being Jessica. She didn't do this to just my boyfriend. She did the same to Bella's. She liked to call Edward 'hot' even though he was taken already. It was something that usually she did. I knew from the look on her face that she was happy for me and I didn't have to worry about a thing. I was being silly and worrying too much.

* * *

When it was lunch time, my friends and I gathered up in the cafeteria like usual. We were once again joined by the newest additions: Alice, Jasper, and Edward who had been sitting with us consistently over the past few weeks. By now, we were very used to their presences and my friends seemed to enjoy their company. I looked around the cafeteria trying to see if Amy, one of Paul's ex-girlfriends or whoever she was to him, was around. I had been avoiding her successfully and I wanted to continue doing that. She didn't seem like someone I wanted to mess with. I was relieved when she wasn't anywhere in sight. I hadn't seen her around for a while. I didn't know if she switched to a different school again or not, but I didn't care. I was glad that I didn't have to see her again and I was happy that Paul and I were going strong.

Mike began writing on a small piece of paper. "My fellow students. We are the future. Anything is possible if we just believe, blah, blah, blah." He ripped the paper off from the notepad and handed it to Jessica. "That's perfect, huh?"

"Yeah, this will be my speech if I want people to throw their diplomas at my head," she said sarcastically as she crumpled the paper and tossed it back at Mike's face.

"You've got to embrace the cliches, Jess," he replied quickly after recovering from the ball of paper being thrown at him.

"They are the bread and butter of all valedictorians," Eric added.

Angela gave her boyfriend a displeased look. "This is why _you're_ not valedictorian."

"Jess doesn't need cliches," Bella said as Angela and Eric bickered in the background. "Her speech is going to be epic."

"Epic?" Jessica repeated. She shook her head looking excited. "No, it'll change lives!"

"So everyone. I've decided to throw a party," Alice said randomly earning our attention.

"After all, how many times will we graduate high school?" Jasper asked and I couldn't control my laughter. He looked pleased to see that I enjoyed his little joke.

"Uh, was that supposed to be funny?" Jessica asked with an awkward laugh. "Because if so, it totally was."

Angela shook her head with a roll of her eyes. "So a party?" she asked. "At your house?"

"Whoa. I've never seen your house," Jessica said.

"No one's ever seen their house," Eric clarified.

"Another party, Alice?" Edward asked. He didn't appear very excited about it and I knew that it had a lot to do with Bella's birthday party last year. That hadn't been so great... or so I heard.

"It'll be fun," Alice said with urge.

"That's what you said last time," Bella replied with seriousness.

Suddenly Alice froze as her eyes glazed over. She was having a vision.

"Hey, uh Angela. Do you need some help with those?" Bella asked to turn away everyone's attention.

It was interesting how I was so used to Alice's sudden visions now. I noticed my sister looking back at Edward and he gave her a smile letting her know that everything was fine. I was curious to know what Alice had seen, but I guessed that if it was important enough, she would tell us later.

* * *

(Saturday)

It was Saturday and Bella wasn't home. She was in Florida visiting our mom. Edward's family had given her plane tickets as an early graduation present knowing that it would probably be the last time she would get the chance to see our mom. Our dad had been supportive about the idea of her visiting, but the support had quickly disappeared once he found out that Edward was going with her. But he ended up letting the two go anyway. So now here I was home all alone being bored out of my mind.

I heard knocking coming from downstairs and I ran down from my room with excitement to answer the front door. "Hey, Paul," I smiled as I allowed him through.

"Hey," he replied giving me a kiss on the cheek. "You need to be careful, you know. Don't run down the stairs so fast. It's not like I'm going to knock on the door and disappear. Take your time."

I laughed. "I was just happy to see you. But you're right. I don't want to tumble down the stairs. I'll answer the door like a turtle next time. So have you eaten yet?"

"I did, but I'm still hungry."

"There's no surprise there," I replied with a grin. "I just made dinner. Let's eat."

We finished eating and found ourselves on the couch watching television.

"Have you heard of those strange animal attacks in Seattle?" I asked as I leaned my head against Paul's chest.

"Yeah, I have," he answered.

"Well, the police department is trying to be more attentive just in case the same attacks happen around here. That's why my dad is being assigned to more shifts," I said, which explained why my dad wasn't home. "Do you think...they're vampires? The things that are killing all these people?"

"There's a big chance that it could be them."

"Oh, God," I muttered under my breath as I brought my head up to look at Paul. "Do you think they'll actually come...here?"

"If they do, there's no need to worry. We'll protect you. We can protect everyone."

He was right. This was the duty of the Quieleute shape-shifters. They were here to keep people safe, especially from the 'cold ones.'

"So something happened a few hours ago...The Cullens were tracking down a red-headed vamp chick and and she crossed into our territory," Paul suddenly said.

"Wait, a red-headed vampire? Victoria?" I asked remembering Bella's story of her, Laurent, and James.

"You're aware of her?" he asked, surprised.

"Yeah, she's the one who's after Bella. Weren't you guys chasing her last month?"

He looked frustrated. "Yeah. Unfortunately, she hasn't been caught yet."

"So what exactly happened?"

"She escaped, but one of the Cullens almost crossed the border into our land to go after her. If he hadn't stopped himself before he almost stepped over, I would have ended up ripping him into shreds."

"What makes you so sure that _you_ wouldn't have been the victim?" I asked and not in a challenging way. I was genuinely worried. Both vampires and werewolves had strengths and weaknesses. Since Paul was a shape-shifter, I was more confident in him, but that didn't mean I actually knew who would win in a real fight.

"Are you doubting my abilities?" he asked raising his eyebrows.

"Of course not. You're my strong werewolf. How could you ever lose a fight?" I asked pretending to be innocent.

He pressed my back against the couch and hovered over me, careful not to crush my body. "That's the correct answer," his deep voice murmured into my ears. He gave me a cheeky smile before slowly lowering his lips against mine. Our lips gently brushed against each other and he brought me into a mind-blowing kiss like he always did, but this time it felt different. It was the first time we were making out while laying down and I was worried he would get the wrong message and we would go too far.

"Wait-"

"Don't be nervous, Liv. I'm not making you do anything until you're ready. Relax because we're just kissing."

He leaned down again, but I pressed my finger against his mouth preventing him from kissing me. "This feels a bit weird though. What if my dad comes-"

"You said he won't be home until late tonight. He won't ever know. It's not like we're having sex on his couch."

My face heated up in embarrassment at the mention of sex. Gosh, I was so immature.

"This is fine. Not weird at all..." his words trailed off as he pulled me into another kiss. This time, I didn't stop him.

* * *

(Monday)

The weekend quickly passed and Monday returned. So did Bella and Edward.

"Who's that hottie?" Jessica asked as she nodded her head across our school's parking lot.

"That's Jacob. You've seen him before," I answered.

"Do you take back the whole 'long haired dorks' thing?" Angela asked reminding me of Jessica's reaction when I had told her I was going on a date with a guy from La Push.

"Yes, I totally do. La Push boys are so hot," Jessica replied and I rolled my eyes.

I watched as Jacob, Bella, and Edward stood together in a bubble of tension. It was surprising to see Jacob here. He hadn't answered any of Bella's calls. He had been ignoring her in every possible way and now he was here to see her.

"I'll be back in a jiffy." I made my way over to the three. "Hey, Jacob!"

He turned around and a smile appeared on his face. "Hey, Liv. How are you?" He gave me a quick hug, which surprised me for a moment but then I realized that all members of the pack treated the imprintees like sisters.

"Not bad. What about you? It feels like I haven't seen you around in forever," I said with a laugh.

"I know, I know. You should start coming over to La Push. I'm sure Paul would like that a lot and the other guys as well."

"Yeah, I definitely will," I told him. "So what are you doing here?"

"He's here to make sure Bella is still human," Edward replied before Jacob got the chance to answer the question himself.

"I'm here to warn you. If your kind comes on our land again-"

"Wait, what?" Bella asked.

"You didn't tell her," Jacob said to Edward, and then he turned to me.

"Hey, don't look at me," I said with a shrug.

"Olivia. Is there something you know that you didn't tell me?" my sister asked.

"Of course she knows something. She's with Paul every single day. He tells her everything," Jacob said with a hint of sarcasm. He was obviously bitter about not being able to imprint on Bella.

"I didn't want you to worry," I revealed to my twin.

"Well, tell me what it is. I want to know," she demanded.

"There was a stupid misunderstanding between Emmett and Paul. Nothing to worry about," Edward said.

"Man, listen to you," Jacob said with a look of disgust on his face. "Slick. Did you lie to get her out of town too?"

After hearing Jacob's words, I began to wonder if that really was the truth. Of course it was important for Bella to see our mom one last time as a human, but why out of all weekends had Edward persuaded her to leave for Florida? Maybe Jacob's accusations were right.

"Leave. Now," Edward warned.

"She has the right to know. She's the one the red-head wants," Jacob replied.

"Victoria's back?" Bella spun around to face Edward. "Alice's vision... It wasn't about Jasper, was it? It was Victoria."

"I was trying to protect you," Edward said.

"By lying to me?" Bella finished.

"Woah, woah. Don't you two start arguing out here," I stepped in to prevent them from causing a scene in front of the other students.

"Jake, wait up!" Bella called and that's when I saw that Jacob was already walking towards his motorcycle ready to leave.

Edward held onto my sister's arm preventing her from walking away.

"Edward, you have to trust me," she said.

"I do. It's _him_ I don't trust."

She gave Edward a hard look and he finally released her. She jogged towards Jacob. I could see him grinning as she put on his helmet and hopped on behind him. She said something that I couldn't hear, but he never lost his grin. The bike roared to life and the pair left the parking lot as the students of Forks High School watched in awe.

"Stop trying to control her, Edward," I said with a bit of annoyance. "She's perfectly safe with Jacob. He's her best friend. You just have to trust her. That's all she wants."

* * *

School ended hours later and Paul picked me up. He had skipped school once again. He along with his pack members were obviously missing school on most days, but none of them seemed to care. Their shape-shifter activities were much more important than going to school.

"So I saw Bella today," Paul said.

I nodded although he wasn't looking at me since he was driving. "Is she still there in La Push?"

"Yeah. Do you want me to drop you off there at Emily's place? Bella's there right now."

"I'd like to to go, but I'm way too tired. Can you take me home? I want to take a nice long nap."

He chuckled in response. "All right then, Liv."

A few minutes later, he pulled into the driveway. "Have fun on your patrol," I said as I attempted to give him a playful smile.

"I'll be thinking of you."

"Okay, but not too much. It's weird knowing that the other guys can hear your thoughts when you're in wolf form."

"I'll keep that in mind," he said with a laugh. "Now give me a kiss."

I gave him a quick peck on the lips. "If you want more, you'll have to wait until tomorrow," I said teasing him.

He pouted and he looked so adorable and unlike his usual sexy self. If only his buddies knew what Paul Lahote was like around his imprintee. How affectionate he was... Oh, he would never live that one down.

"Bye, Paul!"

* * *

As soon as I entered my house, I went into the kitchen and ate some potato chips and strawberry yogurt. It wasn't very filling, but it was fast and easy to eat. I couldn't sleep on an empty stomach. I went upstairs, changed into my shorts and a long t-shirt that I had been wearing as pajamas over the past few days, and got into bed. Sleep came over me quickly after I closed my eyes.

* * *

I felt a cold sensation around my neck and my hand automatically reached up to touch it. Suddenly, I felt like I was being suffocated. I couldn't breathe because something was tightening around my throat. I opened my eyes and saw crimson red eyes staring back at me.

A vampire.

I recognized the face of the immortal. It was Amy. I began thinking of what had happened to her. How did she becoming a vampire? Who had done this to her? Was she here because she was angry about me being with Paul?

I tried screaming and I threw my arms around trying to get her to release me, but her hold was too strong. I had no chance against her. I saw her giving me an evil smile as my face felt like it was going to explode from being unable to breathe. I didn't know how much time had passed, but it felt like forever. I couldn't take it anymore. I was going to die.

"Stop it. Don't kill her," I heard a male voice saying quietly.

"Why not, Riley?" Amy asked in the same quiet tone. I could hear how irritated she was by him in her voice.

"No killing yet."

I felt myself growing weaker and weaker. My eyes began to close because I had no more strength left in me to hold them open. Just when I thought I was going to die, the strong hold around my throat was released. Then, I blacked out.

* * *

I heard the sound of someone knocking loudly against a door.

"Olivia!" my dad's voice called.

My eyes opened and I looked around. I was in my room. Had I been dreaming of Amy as a vampire being in my room? I brought my hand up against my neck and I felt pain as I pressed against my skin. I was definitely bruised up. Amy had been real.

As the knocking continued, I realized that my dad was knocking on the door of _my_ room. I cleared my throat before answering. "Yeah?" I used my hair to cover my neck. I didn't want my dad to see it and start asking questions that I couldn't answer.

The door opened and he peeked his head through. "Do you want some late dinner?" he asked me. He appeared perfectly fine. I was relieved to know that Amy and her vampire partner in crime hadn't done anything to him.

I checked the time on the clock placed on my nightstand. It was a little past nine. I assumed my dad had eaten without me because I was sleeping. I had slept almost six hours straight. I must have been extremely tired or maybe it was because I had blacked out.

I didn't think I would have the appetite to eat anything, but I felt my empty stomach growling in protest. "Sure," I answered his question. "Dad?"

He stepped back into my room. "Yes?"

"Is it okay if I call Paul over? I uh- There's something I need to talk to him about."

"Paul?" he looked displeased to hear his name. My dad didn't like him too much after the whole first date thing that had happened, but I could tell that he liked him a lot more than Edward. "Sure, hon." With that, he headed down the stairs and I quickly sat up to grab my phone form the nightstand.

I went to his number and pushed the call button.

 _Come on, Paul. Pick up. Pick up._

 _"Hello?"_ he answered after the third ring.

"Paul!" I exclaimed.

 _"What's wrong, Liv?"_ He knew from the tone of my voice that something bad had happened.

"Vampires were here inside my house."

 _"What?"_ he asked in alarm. _"Fuck_. _Are you okay?"_

"Yes, I'm fine," I answered because obviously I was. I mean, I was still alive.

 _"Thank God. Stay put. I'll be there as soon as I can."_

* * *

 _Replies to Reviews:_

 **Jessie the twilight girl:** _Thanks for leaving a review again! At first I was going to have Paul be the one to save Olivia, but then I read it over and realized it was too expected to happen. So I decided to have Alice and Jasper come by and rescue her. I hope that made things interesting!~_

 **twilightlover427:** _Thank you for the nice review! :)_

 **animexchick:** _Mwahaha I'm glad I was able to leave a cliff hanger in Chapter 3, haha jk. Were you surprised when you saw that it wasn't Paul who came to rescue her? And I know! Although I'm the one who created Amy's character, I dislike her a lot XD_ _Thank you so much for the review! Yay, for Paul and Olivia!_

 **Twilight Owl 135:** _I'm very (x1000000) happy to know that you love this story so far! It means a lot. I agree that Twilight fanfics are addicting haha. There are so many great ones out there and it makes me sad that I've already read most of them. Hopefully, there will be more awesome ones completed in the coming years. I also hope mine will become one of the enjoyed fanfics out there in the future :P Oh, and also it makes me so glad to hear that you think Paul and Olivia are perfect for each other. It's super hard to write original characters sometimes and I'm still in the process of figuring out Olivia's relationship with Paul, but I'll try my best to work on my ideas and develop my story to satisfy everyone who stops by to read this story :)_

 **Guest #1:** _Thank you so much!_

 **X Blue Eyed Demon X:** _Thank you for the review :D_

 **Lara:** _Thank YOU for taking the time to leave a review!~ I'm extremely glad to hear that you're enjoying this fanfic so far._

 **skydancer-earthwalker:** _Hello! Thank you for the review :) I feel so honored to hear such kind words about my story. I am so happy (like seriously) to hear that you like my OC! I haven't heard that often before so reading what you said put a smile on my face. I tried my best to make Olivia as realistic as possible so I appreciate that you recognized that. I love how observant you are! Haha. Thanks again for the awesome words._

 **Guest #2:** _Haha I hope this new chapter made you want to let Paul off the hook...at least a little bit :P Thanks for the review!_

* * *

 _Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I spent so much time on it today T_T Anyway, so __Paul is able to explain himself and reveal the truth to Olivia in this chapter and she can't help but accept him again because of the invisible pull that keeps a shape-shifter and his imprintee together, which is why their relationship is on the good side so quickly. She still has doubts about him at times, but she sees that Paul is determined to prove to her that she's the only girl for him. Let's see what happens in the coming chapters! More drama I suppose... Btw, I know my story is currently set in like the beginning/middle of Eclipse, but I'm already excited to get to Breaking Dawn lol. Is that bad?...Omg, I need to focus on what I'm writing right now and think about Breaking Dawn later. I have a lot of things planned..._

 _Also, I would like to add that I was so amazed by the support I got from the most recent chapter. You readers are fantastic! :) Thank you for following/favoriting and for leaving more reviews. I seriously appreciate it so much. I loved reading your comments about my story and I'm excited to live this journey with you. Please continue leaving feedback. Thanks!_

 _Btw, I'm currently taking anatomy and physiology at university and I do not have a lot of time to write. It sucks, but I can't really do anything about it. There is so much to memorize and it's extremely frustrating! I have my first lab practical and lecture exam coming up in a few days so I have to go back to studying as soon as I post this new chapter. Wish me luck! Haha. Once again, thank you!_

 _Please REVIEW!_

 _-Jane_


	5. Getting to the Point

_Author's Note: I'm back with a new chapter! Sorry for the long wait. School kept me busy and I also had a bit of writer's block... Well, I hope you enjoy! :)_

* * *

Chapter 5: Getting to the Point

When my dad went to answer the door, he opened it to see a shirtless Paul standing in front of him. Over the short period of our relationship so far, I had seen shirtless Paul many times (mostly because he would come to see me directly from being on a patrol and he didn't really care for clothes), but his body still never failed to amaze me every time his upper body was bare. I could stare at him all day. Of course I didn't actually do that because I didn't want Paul to get cocky and tease me about it. He teased me enough already. I couldn't help myself from appreciating his body though. It was like his muscles were somehow purposely sculpted to be like those famous Greek statues that I had seen in textbooks. He was perfect. It kind of made me feel self-conscious about my own body at times. I wasn't overweight, but I wasn't like my sister either. She was on the skinny side, which wasn't a bad thing at all. I was just more "average". Although I was tempted to think this way, I knew that I didn't have to change what I looked like for Paul. He had proved to me on many occasions that he liked me for me.

The weird look that my dad had on his face didn't go away as seconds went by. I was sure by now that he thought _something_ about Paul was very strange. What kind of high school student had a body like Paul did? The strange look on my dad slowly turned into a face of disapproval. Who could blame him though? First, came Bella's "strange" boyfriend Edward and now _I_ had a strange boyfriend (in my dad's eyes anyway). I came to realize that maybe the attraction to guys who weren't really normal ran in the family. Well, judging from Bella and I.

"Did you forget to wear a shirt, kid?" my dad asked bluntly.

Paul's serious facial expression didn't change. I knew he was too alarmed by the fact that vampires had been in my room to crack a smile or respond to my dad's question with a smart comment. "I was in a rush," he answered. "I hope you don't mind."

My dad sighed before muttering something under his breath that I couldn't hear as he stepped back. This wasn't the first time Paul had come into our house when my dad was home so this was no new drill. "After you two talk… Come eat dinner," he said to me. "It'll be ready soon."

If I hadn't been so scared from what had happened, I would have laughed at my dad's choice of words. He made it sound as if he was the one making dinner. We all knew he did not cook. Him making dinner for me meant that he had ordered carry out food and was going to heat it up.

"Okay. Thanks, Dad," I replied.

Paul didn't even wait for me to start heading up the stairs first. He just got right to it. He barged into my room and began inspecting it. I stood quietly waiting for him to ask me questions.

"There were two of them?"

I nodded. It amazed me that he could pick that up just by smelling the room. I often forgot that he wasn't just a normal human and had shape-shifter abilities. Unlike a vampire, Paul blended in with the rest of us humans.

After hearing everything I told him that I could remember about the attack, Paul brought me into his arms and held me close.

"I'm so glad that you're safe."

"Me too, Paul. I was so scared..." I told him. I wanted to say that I had been scared that I wouldn't be able to see him again, but I kept it to myself. "I swear, vampires are the most frightening things in the world. I don't want to see one ever again, except the Cullens of course since they're 'vegetarians'. Red eyes staring right into you? That's just plain freaky." I chuckled to myself when in fact nothing about what had happened was funny at all. It was just my way of making myself feel better.

I felt Paul running his hands up and down my sides to soothe me. It was working.

"There's one thing that I might have left out," I said with hesitance after a long moment of being content beside him. I realized then that I wasn't as scared as I thought I would be. I felt safe with him with me.

"What is it?" He pulled me back a few inches to look down at my face.

"I told you that it was a female and a male vampire, but I didn't tell you that I recognized one of them."

"Wait. You knew one of them?" He frowned. "How long were you planning on keeping this a secret from me? This is important stuff, Liv. You can't just leave that out."

"I know. It's just- You know her too."

"Her?" he repeated.

"Amy…"

He was silent and I couldn't tell what he was thinking underneath his blank face.

"Paul?"

He stood motionless.

"Who do you think did this to her?" I asked trying to get him to say something. Anything.

"I don't know," Paul replied in a soft voice which was unnatural of him. It was like he was in a trance. He was completely lost in his thoughts.

"Paul. Are you okay?" I asked thinking that he was affected emotionally by the news of Amy. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to bring it up because I didn't want you to feel sad or-"

"It's not because of her," he said. His sudden gruffness caught me off guard. "I told you before. I never had feelings for her."

"Then why are you suddenly acting so differently?"

"Because of you, Liv," he stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh," I said as I finally realized. I felt stupid. He imprinted on me. Of course he was worried about me.

"I don't want you to get hurt. If she's looking for revenge then…"

Many thoughts began flowing through my head and I knew where Paul was going with his words. He was right. Amy had tried to kill me! Why would she not come back to finish me off? My heart pounded painfully just thinking about it. I was like Bella now. I was in danger. Although my life was far from being normal with my boyfriend being a shapeshifter and my sister's boyfriend being a vampire, I _wanted_ to be normal. Couldn't my life just be left alone?

I remembered what Amy had done to me and my hands subconsciously went up to my neck. I shouldn't have done it because Paul noticed the bruises. I had thought he would have noticed earlier, but he had been too worried about the vampires to notice.

Paul pulled my hand off my covered neck and replaced it with his. His calloused fingers gently touched the area around my throat as he observed it. "Liv," he said and his voice sounded strained.

"I'm okay. That's all that matters, right?" I placed my hand on top of his and brought it down. I didn't want him to keep looking at my bruises. It would remind him of what could have happened to me and that would pain him. He didn't need to feel that.

Before he could respond, my dad yelled from downstairs. It wasn't a very soundproof house so I was sure the whole neighborhood heard him. "Olivia! Are you gonna eat or what?"

"Coming!" I yelled back before wrapping my hand around Paul's large fingers. When he didn't move, I added more strength. It was like I was trying to move over a heavy box of metal. "Come on," I urged and he finally allowed me to bring him downstairs.

"Olivia. Do you realize how serious this is?" Paul whispered to me. "A vampire is trying to kill you."

"I don't need a reminder, Paul," I replied with a small glare.

I hadn't meant to be like that towards him, but I didn't want to hear another comment about how my life was in danger. However, I felt bad about those words leaving my mouth the second I said them because I knew that the only reason why I felt safe in the first place was because of his presence.

* * *

My dad was waiting in the kitchen with his arms crossed when we entered. "Can I talk to you, Paul for a moment?" my dad asked as he motioned his head towards the back door.

As I ate alone quietly, I tried to see if I could overhear their conversation but I couldn't. First, I wasn't superhuman and second, the sound of the television playing from the living room drowned out any possibility of me hearing them. All I could do was wait anxiously for them to return inside.

I was pleased when the two came back inside a minute or two later. I knew that they hadn't talked that long because I had been staring at the time using my cellphone, but it had felt like an extremely long time. I was curious to know what my dad had talked to Paul about. Surely he wasn't trying to embarrass me or scare Paul away from me. I almost laughed to myself at the last thought. Scaring Paul away? That seemed impossible, especially when he told me that _he_ was always scared of scaring _me_ away.

I didn't want to ask him about what they talked about in front of my dad so I decided I would ask after he left the kitchen.

As if he had heard my thoughts, my dad spoke. "Okay. Well, I'll leave you two to uh- I'll be in the living room."

It was like he said the last part on purpose to make sure there wasn't going to be any funny business.

"So what did my dad talk to you about?" I asked immediately when we were alone.

"There's a reason why people choose to speak in private, Liv," Paul said with a grin.

"Please tell me," I begged as I attempted to make a puppy face. When Paul sighed, I knew it worked. "Ha!" I smiled at my accomplishment.

"He brought up those... Three guys who followed you," he said and that was enough for me to know that he was talking about those young college aged guys who had tried to have their way with me and failed. "Since they didn't actually do anything 'wrong' considering they didn't physically assault you, they've been released."

I nodded slowly. "I was sort of expecting that. I mean, it makes sense... Do you think they'll try something again? You know, for being angry about getting caught." I didn't think they were stupid enough to get themselves in jail again, but I couldn't dismiss the idea. After all, the theme of revenge seemed pretty common in my life at the moment.

"Your dad said the department has eyes on them. He doesn't think they'll try anything ever again, but he's still worried for you. That's why he wanted to talk to me. He wants to make sure I can keep you safe."

"What did you say to him?"

"I told him not to worry about a thing. I guess he's finally accepting the fact that I'm always around you." His voice grew lower. "If only he knew how capable I am of keeping you safe."

"Now you're starting to sound overconfident."

Paul dismissed my comment. "It's not being overconfident. It's being aware of what I can do."

"That's the same thing."

"No, it's not."

During the next few minutes, Paul entertained me with funny stories concerning his pack members to lighten the mood and I ended up finishing my dinner in no time.

As I finished cleaning the table, I heard my dad talking and realized that Bella was probably home. A few seconds later, my dad came into the kitchen looking displeased.

"Bella's home?" I asked for confirmation.

He nodded. "Yes." He went over to the refrigerator and pulled out a container of orange juice.

As I left the kitchen, I mumbled, "Why is he in a bad mood?" I wasn't sure if I was asking myself or Paul.

"Because the bloodsucker is here."

Without any warning, Paul stormed towards the front door. I quickly followed behind him to make sure he wasn't going to phase into a wolf in the middle of our house. To my surprise, he stopped a few feet away from Edward and remained silent.

"Do you have any idea how I worried I was?" Edward's face was contorted with concern.

I assumed that from hearing what he said that he hadn't been able to know about Bella's whereabouts while she had been in La Push with Jacob. He had been extremely worried about her.

"I was perfectly safe," Bella replied like it was no big deal.

"I nearly broke the treaty to make sure of it-" He abruptly stopped talking as he inhaled.

"I know I smell like a dog," Bella said, earning a scoff from Paul beside me. I elbowed him to make him stop. It wasn't Bella's fault she didn't know what was going on.

"No. That's not it. Something's wrong," Edward replied.

"We need to talk," Paul stated calmly which was unlike his usual self. Well, his usual self in front of a vampire anyway. "It'll explain why you can smell strangers of your kind in the air."

Bella looked extremely confused. Of course she did. She had missed the whole thing.

"Is everything okay?" My dad popped out of nowhere like a ninja holding his glass of juice in his hand. He stared at us as he took in a sip probably wondering what the four of us were doing huddled up by the front door.

"Yeah, Dad. Everything's fine," I gave him a believable smile.

He gave us a weird look (which he seemed to do a lot) before shaking his head and walking back into the living room. It was good he didn't ask any other questions.

The four of us headed upstairs into Bella's room. Edward stood by her bed holding the dreamcatcher that Jacob had given her.

"Edward, what's wrong?" my sister asked as she glanced uneasily at me and Paul.

"Vampires were here," he said shortly. "Let me check the other rooms."

"There's no need for that," I told him earning an are-you-kidding-me look from Bella. I stepped in to clarify as I crossed my arms. "I mean, you guys are kind of late to the whole party. Paul already checked my room."

"But Edward might be able to trace something that Paul wasn't able to," Bella said slowly as if she didn't want to offend anyone.

"Why? Because you think vampires are better than shape-shifters?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

I glanced at Paul and he had a look of surprise on his face. It was probably because I had jumped to defending him before he could do it himself.

"No. That's not it," Bella replied. She sighed. "Can you tell us what happened?"

"Fine."

I explained the whole story once more and by the end of it, Bella was watching me with wide eyes.

"I was about to die, but then the other guy who was there with her stopped her from killing me. I don't know why, but he stopped her. He said it was too soon or something," I revealed.

"If Amy is after you, why do you think the other vampire lingered in Bella's room?" Edward asked.

"I-I have no idea," I said as I tried to think of why the other vampire would want to hurt my sister.

"Did you see what he looked like?" Edward asked.

"She was being choked to death. Of course she didn't," Paul answered before I could.

"I'm sorry," Edward apologized. I didn't know if he did it because he had asked me a sensitive question or for feeling bad that I had almost been killed by a vampire. "We need to discuss this matter with my family," he said turning to Bella.

"You're right," she responded.

"Would you like to come?" Edward asked looking at me this time.

Before I could respond, Paul answered for me once again. "She's not going anywhere near your family."

"She already has," Edward replied looking annoyed.

"Guys, guys," Bella stepped in between the two as they tensed up.

I grabbed Paul's hand to keep him under control. He wasn't shaking nor was he close to it, but I wanted to make sure he would stay calm.

"I know Dad isn't going to let me leave so late at night so can you help me get out of the house without him noticing?" Bella asked.

"Don't worry. I'll make up something," I assured her.

* * *

Over the span of the next few days, the Cullens and the members of the wolf pack took turns guarding our house to keep us safe. The Cullens nor the wolf pack knew what was going on exactly, but they were aware that they needed to be prepared. Something big was coming.

* * *

It was a Saturday when I was invited by Paul to come join the campfire hosted by the three councils of the tribe. I had heard that outsiders weren't allowed so being able to be included at this event to find out more about the secrets of the Quileutes excited me.

After being introduced to Quil's grandfather whom I had never met before, I finally began to relax. I didn't really have a reason to be nervous since I was now fairly close with the guys from the pack and of course I knew Billy Black and Sue Clearwater way before.

Later on, Leah came to sit across me and I decided to say hi. "Hey, Leah." I tried to sound cheerful enough.

"Hey," she replied without much emotion.

From what Bella told me when she had seen Leah the week before while visiting La Push, I had thought that Leah would be mean and rude. However, she didn't seem to resent me at all. She seemed to dislike my twin sister though.

It was quiet and a bit awkward between the two of us until she spoke again.

"You must be really happy," she stated.

"Huh?"

"You know. The whole imprinting thing. Paul is lucky to have imprinted on someone and you're lucky to know what it feels like to be imprinted on."

I opened my mouth but no words would come out. What was I supposed to say to that? Paul had told me everything about Sam, Leah, and Emily. Therefore, I didn't know how to react. I couldn't imagine how hurt Leah was. Sam and Emily weren't at fault, but I couldn't blame Leah for being angry.

I was grateful that she saved me from having to come up with something to say when she stood up abruptly and left without saying another word.

Hearing Leah's words made me realize that maybe she didn't like Bella because Jacob hadn't imprinted on her and he was suffering on his own every time he saw her with Edward. It made sense that way.

"What the hell did Leah say to you?" I heard Paul's familiar voice asking me as he took a seat next to me. "Was she bothering you?"

"No. Not at all," I said as I shook my head. "The opposite actually..."

SMACK!

The noise surprised me and I turned around to see Seth towering over me.

"Hey!" he exclaimed as he slapped Paul so hard that someone all the way across the field could have heard the sound of his hand hitting Paul's arm.

"What?" Paul looked exasperated.

"You're not the only person here. Save some for the others. I saw you take those extra hamburgers." Seth pointed his finger accusingly.

Paul rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, Paul. Stop being such a pig," Jared said with his mouth full.

"Look who's talking," Paul retorted.

I giggled as I watched the two bicker with one another for what seemed like the tenth time that day. It was actually nice to see them acting that way because it showed how close they were.

My eyes trailed over to where Seth was and I couldn't help but smile. Opposite of Leah, he seemed happy and I was glad for him. He was coping over his father's death pretty well and that was a good thing. It was better for one Clearwater sibling to be depressed rather than two.

Bella who was invited by Jacob came to join us by the campfire when the sky grew darker. I could tell she felt like she was intruding, but Jacob made sure she felt comfortable.

As Billy told the stories of the ancestors of the Quileute tribe, I found myself leaning towards Paul's chest more and more. Just hearing about the cold ones made me feel chilly. I had tried to be more accepting about vampires because my sister was freakin' dating one, but it was difficult to do that now. After the traumatic almost-death incident with Amy, I didn't think I could bring myself to look at the Cullens the same way ever gain. Sure, they were good vampires. However, seeing the other side of a vampire made me feel doubtful.

As a strong arm wrapped tightly around my waist, I looked up to see Paul smiling down at me. He lightly pressed his nose against mine before giving me a quick kiss. I smiled back at him. I was thankful that I had Paul in my life. He fulfilled me. He was slowly becoming my other half and I didn't mind at all.

* * *

More days went by and we eventually found out that someone was starting a newborn army and that certain someone was the curly redhead vampire who wanted my sister dead. The whole situation still wasn't completely clear, but we all knew that bad news was awaiting us.

After finding out what had happened to Amy, I began to see missing person posters everywhere around town. I felt bad for her family. They probably couldn't function properly in everyday life because they were constantly worried and scared for her. If only they knew that she was still alive (if vampires could be considered that way). Meanwhile, I had to continue being cautious of my surroundings and stick around Paul, which wasn't too difficult. To my dad's annoyance, we were inseparable. It was like the Edward-Bella nightmare for him all over again.

Graduation was coming up next week and I was surprised to find myself actually sad about finishing high school. Time had gone by so fast. I was growing up into a young woman and I didn't feel prepared to mature yet. There were also many things I had to figure out before September.

College.

The thought of it excited me, yet also made me feel nervous. I knew that the talk had to come up. I had to bring it up sooner or later and that was exactly what I did.

I was pushed against my bed on my back as Paul kissed me. Seconds later, his lips left mine and they traveled down my neck pressing gentle kisses down my sensitive skin. My face heated up as I briefly wondered how far we would end up going within the next few weeks or maybe even days. It seemed like every time we made out, the harder it became for us to not get tempted to have sex. It wasn't something that I was avoiding, but it was just never brought up between us. Did people talk about it before doing it anyway? No. Probably not. I wouldn't have known.

As his lips returned to mine, I remembered what I had to do. I didn't want to break the mood, but I had to. We needed to talk.

"Paul. Wait. Paul," I called his name as I pressed my hands against his chest. "I have something important to talk to you about."

He stopped kissing me and got off me. He laid on his side putting his full attention on me.

"So what is it?"

"We need to talk about us."

"Okay?"

"I... I didn't know when I should bring this up. I didn't want to think about it for a long time so I kept pushing it away, but-"

"Liv," he interrupted. "Just tell me." There was nothing but seriousness on his face.

I looked into his eyes. "I'm going to Juilliard."

* * *

 _Replies to Reviews:_

 **jessie the twilight girl:** _Thanks for reviewing!_ _Yes, unfortunately Amy is a vampire! :( Btw, so happy to know that you're liking Paul and Olivia!_

 **skyblue881:** _I'm so happy to read about the support for Paul and my OC. I really appreciate it! I'm glad that I decided to start writing this fanfic because I never really thought much about Paul's character until recently. I don't know why. How did I not love him before? He's temperamental! LOL just kidding, but he sort of is… Olivia's gonna help him with that. Btw, thank you for wishing me luck with university. I needed it!_

 **twilightlover427:** _Thanks for taking the time to leave a review! Paul and Olivia will definitely have to sit down and have a talk about their future, especially with her going to Juilliard._

Also THANK YOU to **MinnieBow14, Guest Reviewer, JazmynnMikaelson910, RosaSilvermist _,_ Booklover345**, and **QuikChik** for the reviews as well! :D

* * *

 _Author's Note (Again):_ _Hello, readers! Thanks for coming back for the update :) I know it's annoying when stories aren't updated frequently, but I've been super busy with school work. I'm like literally failing my anatomy and physiology class right now so I need to focus most of my time studying for it. There are only two weeks left and ugh, I don't think it's possible to bring up my grade but I'll have to try. Anyway, enough of me ranting about my life. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Let me know if you have any ideas or scenes you would like to see between characters. I can't promise you that I'll include them in my story, but it would be awesome to know what you guys want to see or are expecting._

 _Thank you for reading and please REVIEW! It will motivate me to write haha. See you in the next chapter!_

 _Once again, thanks to the lovely people who were able to leave me feedback for the previous chapter!_

 _-Jane_


	6. His Promise

_Author's Note:_ _I would like to dedicate this chapter to the lovely guest reviewer who wrote that they come back every day to see if I've updated. Thanks to you I was able to get the motivation to write this chapter. It made me so SO happy to read your review after having some depressing moments over the past few weeks!_

 _Thank you to those who followed/favorited! Btw, this is my first time writing this much for a fanfic and it makes me super excited to see how far this story will take me._

 _Okay. Now on with the chapter…._

 _-Jane_

* * *

Chapter 6: His Promise

"I'm going to Juilliard."

Paul's concerned face seemed to look relieved when he heard my words, which was definitely a good sign.

"Thank God," he said. "I thought you were going to tell me it was over between us."

"Of course not." I nervously chuckled because I still wasn't sure how well he was going to react to the news. "I wouldn't have even thought of saying that, Paul. Ever. You mean so much to me. You know that, don't you?"

He nodded. "I do. But wow, Juilliard… New York... How long have you known?"

"I got my acceptance letter the last week of March."

"And you didn't bring it up in any of our conversations?" he asked. "You've known the whole time we were dating, Olivia."

 _Olivia. He called me Olivia and not Liv. I hope he's not too angry._

"I know, I know," I quickly said. "I was just scared to bring it up. Things were going really fast between us, but also extremely smooth. I had my reasons. I didn't want to do anything to ruin what was happening. Paul, I don't want to let this go. I don't want to let _us_ go. Are you… Mad?"

My body was stiff because I wasn't ready to hear whatever Paul was going to say. I had no idea how he was going to react. Would he go full-on angry at me? I knew that Paul always tried his best to stay in control when he was around me, but I always had to be careful and so did he.

It was only a matter of seconds before his face quickly changed and he gave me a supportive look. I could finally breathe again. "I'm not mad, Liv. This is great news. I'm happy and excited for you." He brought my hand into his to reassure me.

I bit my lip. "Really?" I still had to make sure.

"Of course," he nodded as he rested his hand on my stomach. "Why would you think I wouldn't be?"

I sighed. "New York, Paul. That's all the way across the country. You imprinted on me. We're supposed to be together. What am I supposed to do?" I was afraid to hear what he was going to say. Outsiders didn't understand this, but I couldn't imagine being away from Paul. Over the past month and a half, we had grown extremely close. We had even told each other that we loved each other. This was the craziest thing that had ever happened to me and I was sure that if people knew that we had said those three words after two weeks, they would think we _were_ crazy.

I had heard of cases of love at first sight, but could humans be so sure? I would have thought that it was just my "raging female hormones" as a teenager thinking that I was in love if Paul wasn't a shape-shifter, but he was and imprinting was a real thing. Our _love_ was a real thing.

Paul was the first guy that I had fallen in love with. How could I just leave him here and go off to Juilliard? I was aware that long distance relationships were possible but difficult. How difficult would it be for us considering that we were practically soul-mates?

"What do you mean you don't know what to do?" Paul asked. "You're going to Juilliard. You have my complete support. Whatever you do."

I swallowed hard. "If I go, that means that I'll have to leave you behind."

"I know… But you can't be thinking that you'll ditch this opportunity and stay here with me, Liv. Juilliard?" He looked at me with respect. "That's a school that I've only heard of in movies. Their acceptance rate is extremely low, yet you were accepted. This is the best thing that could have ever happened to you. I know how much music means to you. It's what you're good at and if Juilliard is your dream school, you're going to go."

"And you?" I brought back the subject to him.

He paused.

"Listen, Liv. I _want_ to go with you. It wouldn't matter what I'd have to do to stay there with you. It's just- I don't know if I can leave. I don't even know if I'm allowed. I'll have to discuss this with Sam. The number of vamps around here have been increasing and I might be needed. You understand what I'm saying, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"It's going to be okay, Liv. Trust me. We'll figure things out as we go along."

I nodded again. "One day at a time."

He gave me kiss and when he pulled back, he looked me in the eye and I just knew then that Paul was the one. I could trust him. Things would work out.

"One day at a time," he repeated.

"There's been something else that I also wanted to bring up," I told him and he gave me the signal to continue. "It's about how you won't age until you stop phasing..."

"Does that worry you?"

"Yes. I mean, I'm going to be nineteen in a few months and you're still going to be the same age. Sooner or later, it'll become too late. I'll be old enough to be your mom."

I saw him rolling his eyes showing me that he thought I was being ridiculous. "I thought this whole age issue was just a Bella thing."

"It is! Or was..." I frowned. "Paul, I'm being serious over here."

"All right." The playfulness on his face disappeared. "Well, you don't have to worry about it. It won't become that way. I won't let that happen. Oh, and just for the record. I'm being _serious_ too."

* * *

June 2006

A lot had happened over the past week. Paul and I figured things out. Well, sort of. We still had a few months left. The most important and exciting thing that had happened was graduation. I was no longer a high school student and that made me feel free. I didn't feel more like an adult, but I did feel as if I had more responsibilities now.

Everything seemed to be going as planned. Well, except for how Bella had gotten her right hand broken from punching Jacob in the face… Yeah. That hadn't been pleasant at all. I could remember my dad asking her how hard she had hit him for her hand to have gotten broken. If he only knew what it was like to punch a shape-shifter. It was totally damaging.

"Are you ready?" Bella yelled from downstairs.

"Almost! I'll be down in a minute," I yelled back to make sure she could hear me. Not that it was hard to do so in our dad's house.

"Take your time," she responded sarcastically.

I laughed at my sister's tone of voice. It reminded me of how over the many years of our lives, we had always been this way. Bella the tomboy and me, the more "girly" one. She and I had argued often because of our differences, but I would miss her when we parted ways at the end of August.

As Bella and I headed out the door, our dad stopped us. "Before you girls leave, I just want to say that I'm very proud of you. You both have grown up so much," he told us. He then continued as he moved his head from left to right like he was trying to say something that displeased him. "You also managed to have boyfriends while keeping your grades up."

I erupted into laughter, my eyes closing as they usually did when I found something extremely funny. Bella didn't laugh at first, but she cracked a smile once she saw my reaction. "What does that have to do with anything, Dad?" I asked once I was calm enough to speak.

His right eyebrow raised up into the air. "Hasn't your mother ever told you that having boyfriends is distracting?"

Bella and I shook our heads.

He sighed. "Well, that's what happens."

"Well, we proved you wrong."

"I guess so," he nodded.

I thought about what my dad was saying. He was right. Even though I spent most of time with Paul, I still managed to keep my grades up. It was pretty much a miracle since I barely had any time to study. I decided that because my teachers were nice enough, they had made my senior year easy for me.

"So Paul's not going to this graduation party?..." My dad looked at me with a tentative expression like he was worried that I would get upset if he brought my boyfriend up.

"No." I shook my head. "He said he couldn't come."

"Oh, okay. Well, be careful you two. Keep each other safe. You know the drill, right?"

"Of course we'll keep each other safe, Dad," Bella said.

I nodded in agreement. "We always do. Or try, anyway."

* * *

I had never been one to feel awkward at parties, but for some reason this party was completely awkward for me. I shrugged off the feeling as I followed my sister through the groups of classmates when I realized that the reason why I felt this way was because Paul wasn't here. It was strange to admit, but it was the truth. Paul was the other half of me now. He helped bring the confidence in me and since he wasn't here, I felt timid. It made sense that significant others could bring out the best in a person.

I was disappointed when Paul told me he wasn't going to come to the party when I brought it up. However, I understood why he didn't want to come so I didn't push any further.

"You guys are finally here!" Angela greeted us immediately when she saw us approaching.

"I thought you would be here before the party started. You know, because of Edward," Jessica said to my sister.

"Well, I didn't want Olivia to drive over alone so I thought it would be a good idea to drive over here together," Bella explained.

"Oh," Jessica nodded before she looked at me. "Paul isn't coming? Wait. Did something happen between you two?"

I shook my head quickly. "No. Nothing happened, Jess. He's just- Not coming tonight."

"I guess he's busy," Angela added before changing the subject. I was grateful. She seemed to always catch on to the little details and lessen the tension in a room. "So what did you think about Jessica's speech?"

"Yeah, guys. Was it too easy-breezy or self-helpful?" Jessica asked.

"Actually, you pretty much nailed it," Bella said looking genuine.

Jessica smiled before looking at me expectantly.

Her speech had a lot of 'Jessica' in it, but that was what made it special. It was unique and everything about it had been positive. It encouraged all of to go out and take chances.

"Yeah, Jess. I know you put in a lot of hard work into your speech and it was definitely worth it because it was amazing. You were amazing."

"Aw, thanks guys!" she yelled as she wrapped her arms around each of us and brought us into a suffocating hug. "I'm totally born to lead, right?"

Before either of us could respond, an upbeat song started playing throughout the house and Angela started jumping in excitement. "I love this song! Come on," she said as she suddenly pulled us toward the large circle near the middle of the house where all the dancing was taking place.

We saw two guys dancing with embarrassing moves. They were Eric and Mike of course.

"Hey, girls. Time to dance. Don't make me get my robot on," Mike said.

"You wish your robot looked this good," Eric replied as the two of them circled around the four of us.

They started a robot battle and we laughed as we watched them. They on the other hand, didn't think their dancing was funny at all.

Jessica and Angela started dancing too and I joined them. I saw Bella smiling next to me, but it looked a bit forced. I gave her an encouraging smile and she glanced down at her feet before moving them from side to side according to the beat.

One of my favorite things about dancing at parties was how you could just let go and dance crazy, even if you looked like a dork.

Jessica didn't seem to think the same way. "You guys are embarrassing yourselves," she pointed out at our two friends who were still doing the robot.

"Oh, come on. Our dance moves are great," Mike responded and Jessica rolled her eyes. "Let's dance." He grabbed my hand out of nowhere and now I was facing him.

What was he doing? Didn't he know that Jessica liked him? Was he really that oblivious?

I thought I saw Jessica glaring at me for a split second before she looked in the opposite direction. I sighed as I wondered what I had to do to get these two to figure things out. It seemed like it was always either me or Bella who was stuck in the middle of them and it was quite uncomfortable.

The dancing crowd parted creating a space for people to walk through and I turned to see Jacob, Embry, Quil, and Paul coming towards us. They were all wearing shirts for once. Paul strode over to me and Mike quickly moved away looking terrified for a short moment. He had gotten caught dancing with me.

Without any warning, Paul pressed his lips to mine and kissed me passionately. I didn't have any time to react as his arms wrapped around me.

"Paul!" I gently slapped him on the arm when he released me. "Why did you do that?" I hid my face in his chest feeling myself blush as everyone at the party seemed to be staring at us.

"You're _mine_."

Something deep inside me lit up in delight at his words. I knew some girls would be annoyed at their boyfriend for thinking they owned them, but I didn't feel that way. I thought it was hot. He was claiming me as his.

"I am," I nodded. "But you already know that."

"Your little friend doesn't seem to know."

"Aw. Is my Paul feeling jealous?" I asked in a voice that I would use to talk to a little kid. I couldn't hold back the small laugh that escaped from my mouth.

He grunted like he didn't want to admit it.

"Well, there's no need to be," I told him. "Mike's just a friend. He wanted to dance with me just like a friend would."

Paul gave me a nod. He was letting me know that he was okay with it although he was slightly reluctant.

"So… I didn't think you would come," I told him the obvious.

"I know." He glowered at his buddies. "I was forced to come. I'm glad I did though." His dark eyes roamed down my body before looking up at me. "You look beautiful, Liv."

"Thank you," I said as I leaned into his chest to hide the blush appearing. Getting compliments from Paul was something I would never get used to.

Our bodies were close against each other as we danced along to the music. Paul surprised me. He wasn't putting out specific moves or anything, but just the way his body went against mine on the right rhythm was so attractive. I was sure I would love him the same way even if he was horrible at dancing, but he wasn't horrible at all. Was there anything he couldn't do?

"I brought you a graduation present. I made it myself," I heard Jacob saying.

I saw Paul looking a bit tense at seeing Jacob clasping the charm bracelet around my sister's wrist. I briefly wondered if it was because he didn't get me anything. Honestly, it didn't matter to me that he didn't.

"One second. Wait here," I said to him and the awkwardness between us quickly vanished.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I'm going to do something that I've been wanting to do for many months."

With that said I made my way to find Jessica. She was in the kitchen getting a drink. I grabbed her hand and began pulling her away from the food table.

"Hey! Where are you taking me? I haven't even had a sip of this yet," she told me.

"Forget the drink. Come with me quick."

I brought her back onto the dance floor where Mike was. He looked confused.

"Okay. Mike, listen closely. Jessica over here is interested in you. She likes _you_ , dude. She's always liked you, but you were too freaking oblivious to notice. But now that I've told you and you know that she likes you, you should man up and do something about it because I know that deep down there you have feelings for her. I mean, come on. You two have been friends since kindergarten. You were just worried about possibly ruining your friendship if things went south. Am I right? Well, if you don't try, you'll never find out what will happen so come on, Mike. Make. A. Move." After I enunciated the last three words so my message was clear, I pushed him towards her and my friends both looked at each other with widened eyes. "Okay?"

"O-okay," he stuttered and I grinned in response. My work here was finally done.

I found Paul smirking with his arms crossed waiting for me across the room.

"So did you see what I did?" I asked and even I could hear the excitement in my voice. "That _so_ needed to be done last year. Look how happy they look! Why didn't they just figure things out before?"

Embry came over to us and the two of us naturally stepped apart. "Hey guys. You know the short Cullen girl?-"

"Alice?" I asked.

"Yeah, her," he nodded. "She had a vision. We're being called into the office over there to talk." He nodded his head towards the direction of where the rest of the group was.

Paul put his hand on my back and guided me towards Dr. Cullen's office. It was crowded considering there were thirteen of us standing in the room.

"How long?" Edward asked after Alice announced to all of us that the newborn army was coming here instead of staying in Seattle.

"They'll be here in four days," she answered with worry completely covered on her face.

"This could turn into a bloodbath," Carlisle stated.

"There aren't enough of us to protect the town," Jasper added to the negativity in the room.

"Someone's going to attack Forks?" Jacob asked. He still was unsure of what was going on just like the rest of his wolf pack brothers.

Edward ignored him as he faced Alice. "Who's behind it?"

She shook her head. "I don't see anyone familiar. Maybe one-"

"Yes, I've seen his face. He's local. Riley Biers." I knew that he had read her mind when he revealed the information. "But he didn't start this."

"Whoever did is staying out of the action," Alice replied.

"So someone's playing with blind spots in your vision," Carlisle said.

"Only the Volturi could know how Alice's gift works. Aro would have found out when he read Alice's mind…" Edward trailed off.

"Either way, the army is coming and our odds aren't good," Jasper said.

My head went from left to right as I turned my head every time someone new spoke. This was starting to become an intense discussion.

"All right. Hold up!" Jacob stepped in. "What damn army?" He looked angry. I didn't blame him. The Cullens weren't presenting the problem clearly.

"Our kind. Newborns," Carlisle revealed.

"How many?" Quil asked.

"Enough," said Jasper.

"What are they after?" Embry finally spoke this time.

"They were passing Bella's scent around, a red blouse-" Alice said.

"That's what he was doing at our house," Bella said as she looked over at me. "He's after me."

"Wait. If the vampire that was in Bella's room is Riley, then that means Amy is with him. She's in his army," I said finally realizing.

This was bad. Really bad. It was already hard enough that we had to worry for Bella's safety, but now that I knew Amy was with Riley, I was worried about my safety too.

"Who's Amy?" Alice asked with confusion.

"Bad news," I told her. "You know... What if it's Victoria? What if this is all her?"

"You think Victoria is behind all of this?" Edward asked me.

I nodded. "Why else would Riley need Bella's scent to give to a newborn army? He has no affiliation with her. He has no motive to go after her unless it's Victoria who's making him."

"Olivia is right," Alice nodded. "It must be her."

"Okay. So what the hell does this all mean?" Jacob asked.

"It means an ugly fight," Carlisle replied looking anguished. "With lives lost."

The four shape-shifters seemed to share a silent discussion before Jacob nodded. "We're in."

"What? No," Bella immediately responded. "You'll get yourself killed."

The moment she said those words, my heart clenched in anxiety. Paul held my hand tighter noticing the change in me. He avoided my eyes though as if he was expecting me to react the same way Bella was. I gave his hand a light squeeze letting him know that I understood that the wolf pack had to do what they had to do. It was then he finally looked at me. From the serious face he had I knew that he was worried about my safety. Amy hated me and he knew it.

"Please. It's what we were made for," Jacob said with a scoff.

"Forget it," Edward said.

"We weren't asking for permission."

Carlisle seemed to look at Quil, Embry, and Paul for confirmation. None of them said anything to protest against Jacob. "All right," Carlisle said. "You believe Sam will agree to this... Understanding?"

"As long as we get to kill some vampires," Jacob responded.

"Jasper?" Carlisle called his name for his opinion.

"They'll give us the numbers. And the newborns won't know werewolves even exist. That'll give us an edge," he said.

"Carlisle, don't," Bella begged him before he could officially agree. "They'll get hurt."

I knew that the werewolves joining in on the fight would be inevitable with a newborn army approaching our town, but I couldn't help but silently side with my sister on this. She didn't want Jacob to get hurt and I didn't want Paul to get hurt either. Plus, Bella was a bit reluctant to believe that shape-shifters could handle themselves as well as vampires could.

"I'm sorry, Bella. This is necessary," Carlisle said before turning to the others. "We'll have to coordinate. Fighting newborns requires knowledge that Jasper has. We were already planning a strategic meeting. You're welcome to join us."

"Name the time and place," Jacob said.

After the discussion, I headed out the door with Paul.

"Jake, wait. You don't know what you're getting into," I heard Bella saying. She was attempting once more to get him to back out of this plan.

"It's what we do, Bella. You should be happy. Look at us, working together. You're the one who wanted us to get along," Jacob said before leaving.

I stopped in my tracks as I turned to my twin.

"I'll wait outside," Paul said in a gentle tone and I gave him a nod.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah," she sighed. "I just don't want Jacob to get hurt. I don't want _any_ of them to get hurt."

"I know. I don't want anything bad to happen to them either. But like Jacob said, this is what they do. They're shape-shifters. Their tribe has always protected people from vampires. Maybe this is the best way to keep you safe," I told her.

"You're probably right," she said with another sigh. "So I'm assuming that Paul's taking you home."

"Yeah."

"Leaving so soon?" she asked sarcastically.

I bit my lip. "I thought this whole huge graduation party would be fun considering that we'll most likely never see these people ever again, but I don't know. Paul doesn't want to stick around too long and I know I won't be having too much fun without him. It'll be good for me to leave early."

"All right then." She gave me a small smile. I could see the fear behind her eyes and I wondered if she could see mine. "Good night."

"Good night," I replied as I gave her a hug.

* * *

Paul stopped his truck on the side of the road and I glanced at him trying to figure out what he was doing. When I failed to do so, I started to ask him.

"Um... Paul? Why are we here?"

"I'm going to give you a graduation present." He pulled out a ring and my mouth slightly opened. "Don't panic. This isn't a marriage proposal or anything."

A smile appeared on my face. Of course Paul would joke during a serious time like this.

"This is a promise ring... I meant it when I told you I can be whatever you need. I will be here for you always. I'll protect you, love you, and make you happy. I'm _yours_."

I remembered back to the party when Paul tensed up seeing Jacob give Bella her graduation present. It hadn't been because he hadn't gotten me anything, it had been because he was nervous about giving me this promise ring.

"Wow, that was cheesy," he suddenly said.

I laughed. "You know you love it."

He held his hand out slowly as if he was scared that I would reject him. I placed my hand in his and I was greeted by a warm touch. He slipped the silver band on my finger and I could hear him sigh in relief. It made me realize that I had been holding my breath the hold time. "Thank God it fits," he said.

I laughed in response. "Give me," I said and Paul placed his ring on the palm of my hand. It was my turn to slip in on his finger. "You're mine and I'm yours," I whispered to him. I then broke into a smile feeling excited about us having promise rings.

"I love you."

"I love _you_ ," I replied.

Five minutes later, things got a little bit heated. Okay, I'm lying. Things were getting extremely heated.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yes. I _want_ this." I understood that Paul wanted to be a gentleman around me, but he had asked me a few times already whether or not I was okay with what was happening. He needed to understand that I was okay with this. I wanted this.

"I don't want to pressure you into doing something you don't want to do. We have a lot of time ahead."

I stopped him from continuing. "Shh, Paul. You're talking too much."

I had never thought that I would want my first time to be with someone I had dated for only about two months. I thought it would take at least a year for me to trust a guy enough. However, I was wrong. I trusted Paul. He had been different just a few months ago, but he changed after imprinting on me. When I thought back to our first date when I had freaked out after overhearing his conversation with Amy now, all I could do was laugh because I had been foolish. I hadn't given him the chance at first. However, when I did, I quickly fell in love with him. This whole imprinting thing had changed Paul. He himself didn't change. He was still the same stubborn, hot-headed Paul Lahote, but his ways and views on relationships were now different.

At first I thought imprinting wasn't that great. He had been forced to love me, but as time passed, I realized that this wasn't true. Imprinting was special. It was a mutual process.

"Shit."

"What?"

"We have to stop." He suddenly pulled himself away from me as if my body was suddenly hot like lava.

I grew self-conscious. Had I done something wrong?

"Did I do something wrong?" I asked, repeating my thought out loud.

"No, no. Of course not," he immediately replied and my worries disappeared. "I don't have a condom with me."

"Oh..."

Paul's eyes observed me with amusement when I began giggling.

"Why are you laughing?" he asked me.

"I just- It's surprising to me."

"That I don't have any stacked in my car?" He finished for me and I nodded. One of his eyebrows rose up with amusement. "I guess that proves that I've been faithful to you."

I shook my head with a roll of my eyes. "Oh, does it?" I adjusted my body to sit comfortable in the seat. "I can't believe this. For a moment I was sure that it would happen tonight."

"If you want, we can go buy some now," Paul said in a joking tone.

"Yeah, but that would just make things awkward… For me, anyway."

"Well, we can just go at it without a condom then," Paul said as another joke. He winked this time.

"Yeah, right. I'll just get pregnant and life will be super easy for the two of us," I said sarcastically. "Definitely not."

"Really? I don't think it'll be too bad," he said looking like he was imagining what it would be like. "It feels better without it."

My face never grew hotter than it did at that exact moment. At first, I thought he was imagining what it would be like to have a baby, but _that_ hadn't been what he was talking about. I looked out the window attempting to hide my face from him.

"Sorry," I heard him say.

"It's okay. If we're going to have... sex soon, I might as well adjust to hearing you say things like that."

"You're right. You should try adjusting because it'll only get worse. The things I say."

"Really?" I challenged. "What kind of things will you say?"

"Hmm... Like how I _will_ get you pregnant one day," he said in my ear and I felt tingles everywhere. "But obviously now isn't the time."

I would've gasped out loud if my mouth wasn't clamped shut.

He stopped to look over at me when he realized that I was frozen in my spot. "What?" he asked.

"I-Nothing. It's just… You surprised me. You want to have kids… with me?"

Suddenly, a million different thoughts ran through me. Would Paul be a good father? I tried imagining it again. It was difficult to see in my head what it would be like to have a family with him because the two of us were still extremely young, but that made me even more excited for the future.

He looked at me like I was asking a stupid question. "Of course I do."

That night I learned that nothing could be sexier than a guy you loved telling you that he wanted to have babies with you.

* * *

 _Replies to Reviews:_

 **Elle Ryder:** _Hello! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review! Hmm I try my best to make the Twilight characters as close to how they are portrayed in the books (because I like it that way), but sometimes it's difficult to do that when I'm making my own dialogue for them. I'll keep trying my best to come up with some good writing! I hope you'll end up liking my story as it continues on! Also, I'm not exactly sure what I'll be doing with the whole Jacob imprinting on Renesmee thing. To be honest, I've never really liked it nor did I hate it. I just took it all in the way it was, you know? But I agree with you. It is a bit weird and seems forced the way Jacob imprinted on Renesmee, the daughter of the girl he fell in love with/best friend. I'll think some more about this subject and then make my decision. Thankfully, there's still a long way to go haha._

 **MrsWaylandOdinsonBlack:** _Thank you. I'm so happy to hear that! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and Paul's reaction :)_

 **Wolf-girl-only-in-my-dreams:** _Ah, sorry but I had to leave a cliffhanger! I feel like I haven't had many of those in my chapters so far haha. Thanks for reviewing!_

 **LoveFiction2016:** _So as of this chapter, there isn't any trouble between Paul and Olivia because Paul is very supportive about his girlfriend going to college. However, we'll have to see how the two will figure things out. Thanks for reviewing!_

 **Guest Reviewer:** _Thank you so much for leaving a review. Right after I read it, I grabbed my laptop and started writing with excitement. Thanks for the motivation because I needed it :)_

* * *

 _Author's Note: Thank you for reading! So here's an update on my life if you're curious. I did so much better on my final lab practical, but it still wasn't enough to bring my grade up. It's seriously so stressful. Ugh. I hate biology. I'm actually excited for organic chemistry next semester because I know I will do much better. Seriously though, I'm so upset about this. College sucks. Sorry if you're heading into college soon. I don't mean to be so negative, but school is always just frustrating. I'm sure there are lots of people who can handle it well, but I'm not one of those people T_T I've literally cried all day. Writing this chapter for a few hours helped me forget about my school life for a moment though. I guess I should continue writing and reading to cheer myself up!_

 _That was the end of my rant._

 _Okay. Well, I'll be going now. I'll see you in the next one!_

 _Please, please REVIEW! :) I'd really like to know what you think. I'm hoping you're liking it so far, but I can't be sure so... Thanks!_

 _-Jane_


	7. Questioning Happiness

_Author's Note:_ _I'm back! Once again, I wasn't able to spend too much time editing so if there are any grammar, punctuation, or spelling problems, I promise I'll go through them soon and fix them! Thanks and I hope you enjoy this chapter! :) Please don't forget to REVIEW!_

* * *

Chapter 7: Questioning Happiness

Giving Paul a quick kiss, I unbuckled the seatbelt and got out of the car. "Thanks for taking me home," I smiled. "I'll call you tomorrow morning, okay?"

I stopped midway towards the porch and ran back to Paul's driver's seat. I leaned my head through the open window and gave him a long kiss. Words didn't need to be exchanged. The kiss alone revealed how much I loved him. "Goodnight," I whispered a little breathless. Not to be cliche or anything, that was how Paul made me feel. He took my breath away. Literally. I was hopelessly in love with him and I had to admit that I was lucky for that. Not all girls my age could say that they found someone they loved.

When I got to the front door of the house, I glanced back to the driveway to see Paul giving me a signal with his hand for me to go in. I waved once before going inside. Like always, he waited for me to enter the house before actually leaving.

"You're home early," my dad said as he suddenly appeared. "Where's Bella?"

My hand that had flung up to my heart in surprise remained there as I replied. "Gosh. Dad. You scared the crap out of me. Again." This was probably the hundredth time he had done this to me. The same thing happened to Bella too on a normal basis.

"I'm sorry. Didn't mean to," he said with a genuinely apologetic look.

"Now you're making me feel bad," I told him.

"Sorry-"

"Ah, ah, ah!" I stopped him as I wiggled my finger. "No more apologizing. Anyway, Bella is still at the party. Paul brought me home."

"Did something happen?" my dad asked cautiously.

"No," I shook my head. "I just didn't really enjoy it. I guess I'm not a party person anymore."

"I see," my dad said before putting his hand on his hip. "Wait a minute. I thought you said you two would look after each other."

"Right…" I laughed unsurely. "Well, I'm sure Edward will look after her," I said and immediately paused when I saw his expression. "That wasn't the right answer, was it?..."

"No," he sighed. "You know I'm not too fond of… Edward."

"Of course," I replied with slight sarcasm. "Can I ask you if you like Edward or Paul better or is that kind of like asking a kid if he likes Mom or Dad better? You know, it's very difficult to answer."

"Ha. Very funny," my dad said. It was his turn to be sarcastic.

Out of nowhere, something that I never expected to be in my dad's house came out of the kitchen and towards us.

"Woah. A German Shepherd?" I let out in a confused voice as the dog came closer to me.

Because I had never actually seen one up close and only through movies and shows portraying them as intimidating dogs, I couldn't help but think that this dog was also intimidating. However, as soon as it came up to me, my judgment quickly vanished. This dog was one of the friendliest I had ever encountered.

"Aw. Hello there, buddy." I cringed at myself on the inside at how high-pitched my voice got. This seemed to be a common thing for people when they spoke to cute animals or children. "Where did you get him, Dad?"

"Remember Drew?"

I nodded. Drew was one of the newer police officers at the department.

"His baby at home is allergic to dogs so he can't keep him anymore. He couldn't find anyone who could take him in and he didn't trust the idea of putting him in a shelter so I said I would take him. That way, he can still come by and see him."

"That sounds like a great idea," I responded.

I felt bad. Although Drew's baby meant the world to him, I was sure that this dog had meant a lot to him too.

"It must've been hard to hand him over."

"Yeah, this dog is family to him. Had him before he even met his wife. I promised him I would take good care of him and I will. You and Bella can help with that this summer before you two go running off to college."

I laughed. "Okay. This is so exciting. I've always wanted a dog. What's his name?"

"Gunner."

I swore I saw his ears perking up when his name was mentioned.

Of course that was his name... Drew was in the Army before he became a police officer.

"Gunner, huh? Well, you definitely look like a Gunner," I spoke to him even though he couldn't understand me. I smiled as he happily leaned into the palm of my hand as I gave him some extra attention. "But you're also very cute." I turned to my dad. "Where is he sleeping? Can he stay in my room?" I suddenly felt like a little kid all over again.

"Sure," he nodded.

"Okay. Well, I'm getting tired. Good night, Dad," I quickly said as I began running up the stairs with Gunner on my heel.

"Olivia."

"Yeah?"

I stopped and turned around when I didn't hear anything.

"I've noticed lately that you look happy." There was a pause before he continued. "Really happy. I mean- You are, right? You're happy?"

My eyebrows moved closer together as I looked at him with confusion. "What's with the sudden question? Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine," he answered. "I just wanted to know if you were happy."

Although what he was asking was odd and out of the blue, I nodded. "Yes, Dad. Of course I'm happy. I'm no longer a high school student, I have a great summer ahead of me, and college-"

"No, I mean… Are you happy with Paul?"

 _Oh. So that's what it was._

There was a long pause of silence. I was trying to understand why he was suddenly asking me this out of nowhere. Was he worried that I was getting myself into a relationship that I eventually wouldn't want like how my mom was with him?

"Yes. I'm happy, Dad," I told him. "I really am. You don't have to worry about me, okay?"

I came down the stairs and ran into his arms hugging him tightly. I suddenly found tears forming in my eyes. I wasn't crying out loud, but from the way my body shook even if it was the slightest movement, I knew my dad could tell.

"I'm sorry, Olivia. I didn't mean to make you cry."

The way his hand patted my back made the moment a little bit awkward, but it was all right.

I shook my head silently telling him that he didn't need to apologize. Suddenly, the stress that had piled on me over the past year released itself as I cried into my dad's arms. I hadn't even wanted to leave Phoenix in the first place, but seeing that my mom wanted to travel with Phil whom she loved very much, I had agreed with Bella and moved to Forks. Adjusting to this new place had been on the easier side thanks to my new friends and of course my sister, but that didn't make things better for me. With my mom's emails and phone calls getting shorter and less frequent, I felt like I didn't have a mom anymore. Things had changed.

I was surrounded with people, but I was still lonely. Having Paul by my side was the greatest gift I could ever receive. He had been the only one to make me happy again. He had made me so happy and back to my normal self that I had almost completely forgotten about my parents. My mom nearly vanished from my head and although my dad had been worrying about me and watching over me, I hadn't given him the time of day. So hearing him asking if I was happy touched me. My dad, the one my mom had left when Bella and I were very small, the dad whom I thought couldn't ever be fully involved in our lives, truly cared about me. I had been nice to him because he was my _dad_ , but now I realized that it was so much more than that. He deserved to be a dad. He deserved to be _my_ dad and also Bella's.

"I love you, Dad."

I had told my mom that I loved her so many times that it was normal. However, it wasn't like that with my dad. I felt his arms stiffen around me for a brief moment before he loosened them and hugged me tightly.

"I love you too."

* * *

 _"Your dad brought home a dog?"_ Paul asked over the phone the next morning.

"Yeah. I know, right? It's unexpected, but I'm happy. I've wanted a dog my whole life." I started going on and on about Drew and why he had to give away Gunner. When I was finished, I asked, "Do you not like dogs?..."

 _"They're okay. Better than cats,"_ I heard Paul muttering.

I laughed in response. "So Gunner got to sleep next to me last night. You jealous?" I joked.

I could sense he was rolling his eyes even though I couldn't see him. _"Extremely,"_ he said in a low voice a moment after. His voice made me feel butterflies in my stomach.

"OLIVIA!"

I jumped out of reflex. "One second, Paul," I said before holding my hand over the speaker. "What?" I yelled at my sister.

"Come here!"

I sighed. "Sorry, Paul. I've got to go," I said and even I could hear the disappointment in my voice.

"Okay," he said. "Um, was that Bella screaming?"

"Yep," I replied. "I'm going to go check on her to see what she wants. I'll see you in a few hours?" My sentence sounded like a question.

 _"Yeah. I'll see you then."_

After ending the call, I made my way towards Bella's room. I heard her yelling my name again.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," I said as I speed walked. "What's wrong?" I asked as I finally entered.

I saw her pointing to the other side of her bedroom. "Why is there a dog in our house?"

I repeated to her the same explanation I told Paul. "He's a sweetie. You don't have to be scared," I told her at the end.

"I'm not scared," she clarified sounding a bit defensive. "I was just confused. I can't believe Charlie-"

"Shh!" I whispered.

"What?"

"He might hear you!" I said to her.

"Fine. I can't believe _Dad_ brought home a dog."

I laid down on her bed making myself comfortable like it was my own. "I know, right? Maybe he was feeling a bit lonely with us being out of the house all the time."

"But we've been home a lot."

I shook my head. "No. That was on school days and on those days he works. Haven't you noticed that we've been going out with our boyfriends every weekend?"

"Oh," Bella said thoughtfully. "I never thought too much about it, but you're right. Should we… Uh, try staying home more often on the weekends this summer? You know, like have some father-daughter time?" She sounded awkward even talking about.

The whole idea in general sounded awkward, but I could live with it. To be honest, I felt bad about our dad being so alone.

"That sounds like a good idea," I nodded. "I mean, we have the whole summer ahead of us. We can do some fun things with… Dad."

It was quiet for a few seconds before we both bursted out into laughter. "Fun?" We said at the same time.

"What's so funny?"

We turned to the door and saw our dad watching us with curiosity. Dad and Bella were similar in the sense that they could never hide their true expressions. This was how I knew that he hadn't heard our conversation. He was genuinely curious about what we were talking about.

"Nothing," the two of us said.

"And that usually means something," he said with a grunt. "Hmm. So... I was thinking we could go eat breakfast at the Pancake House. What do you girls say?"

Bella and I shared a look. Just a few seconds ago we had talked about spending more time with our dad. This could be a good start.

"Okay," we answered.

* * *

After having breakfast with our dad we went back home to see Edward's car parked in the front. Our dad wasn't exactly happy to see him, but he let the three of us go to "hang out" since that's what he thought we were doing. I knew Paul wouldn't be too happy about me riding Edward's car, but what else could I really do? The funny thing was Paul used to be the one in the pack who had the most hatred towards vampires, but since one of them was my sister's boyfriend, he was starting to adjust better to the idea of bumping into them. Okay, well not exactly, but better than before.

I felt my body fling forward only to be stopped by the seatbelt securing me to the back of Edward's car as he skidded the vehicle to a sudden stop. That seemed to be a habit of his. I preferred Paul's way of driving. He tended to speed at times, but he drove smoothly and didn't make me feel as if I would get a heart attack.

 _Jesus. Why does he drive like this?_ I questioned myself about Edward.

"No one's chasing after you. Why are you getting out of the car so fast?" Bella asked as she eyed me stumbling out of the car. I wasn't as clumsy as Bella, but at that exact moment, I felt like I was.

I laughed awkwardly in response trying to brush her off instead of actually answering the question.

 _I need some air after that horrible car ride with your boyfriend who drives like a maniac_ , I thought to myself.

Bella moved her gaze away from me while Edward's stayed. He grinned at me and my mouth opened as I gasped in shock.

 _Crap._ He had read my mind. How could I be so forgetful about his 'gift'?

I was certain my mixture of embarrassment and guilt could be seen on my cheeks as I felt them growing very warm. I silently apologized to him. Edward gave me that same crooked smile he usually had on letting me know that he didn't mind.

I watched alongside my sister as Jasper and Emmett trained together. Jasper caught him off guard and flew him across the ground. Emmett landed hard on his back, but he got up within a split second. "Again," he demanded.

It wasn't long before Edward noticed a new presence coming. "They're here," he announced.

From the tree line, a pack of giant wolves approached. They looked wary, just as the Cullens were. I wasn't exactly sure what I had been expecting it, but I was slightly surprised to see that they weren't in their human forms. However, I understood why.

"They don't trust us enough to be in human form," Edward said.

I immediately knew which one was Paul. I saw him meeting eyes with Emmett and it looked as if it wouldn't take much to set them off and start a fight. I remembered hearing about the time Emmett almost crossed into the other territory and Paul was there prepared to 'rip him into shreds'. With the two standing on the same ground, it was obvious that they were ready to have a rematch.

"They're here. That's what matters. Will you translate?" Carlisle asked.

Edward nodded before putting his attention on the large black wolf standing in the center. It was Sam. "He says they'll watch and listen, but that's the most we can ask of their self-control."

"That will be fine. Jasper has experience with newborns. He'll teach us how to defeat them," Carlisle said.

"They want to know how these 'newborns' differ from us," Edward translated again.

"They're a great deal stronger than us because their own human blood lingers in their tissues. Our kind is never more physically powerful than in our first several months of this life."

I noticed the pack taking in the new information. So was I. I hadn't known much about what the newborn vampires were like or how they were different. I was slowly starting to learn.

Carlisle took a step back and nodded to Jasper silently telling him to take over for him. Jasper looked uncomfortable with the wolves and also the attention, but stepped forward nonetheless. "Carlisle's right. That's why newborns are created for armies," he said. "The good news is, they are not in the thousands, like a human army. The bad news is, no human army could stand against them. But they're untrained, and their thirst will make them wild. Volatile. That can work in our favor."

He moved towards the center of the field for a demonstration. He looked more confident in his teaching now.

"The two most important things to remember are, first, never let them get their arms around you. They'll crush you so fast your head will spin. Second, never go for the obvious kill. They'll be ready for that and you'll lose. Emmett?" Jasper gestured for his adoptive brother to attack. "Don't hold back."

Emmett smirked. "Not in my nature."

Watching the vampires train was extremely fascinating. I had never seen them in action before. They were fast and agile. They looked graceful even in the state of fighting. I could understand why us humans found ourselves attracted to them. They were hauntingly beautiful beings.

After the night Jasper and Alice came to save me many weeks ago, I began looking at vampires in a different light. In a strange way, I started to feel closer to the Cullens, mostly Alice. She and I shared common interests: shopping and fashion. Although I was more accepting about the idea that not all vampires were bad, hesitance still remained in me deep down. Some of my negative feelings towards them were influenced by Paul's natural hate towards them. However, slowly they were starting to become more positive.

When the demonstrations and training between Jasper and the other Cullens were finished, the wolf pack left to return to their territory except for Paul and Jacob who remained behind.

I cautiously approached the wolf with the dark silver fur. This was Paul. He was _my_ Paul. Yet, I was tentative to go near him. I wasn't afraid, but this was only the second time seeing him in his wolf form. This was still quite too astonishing to believe. The last time I had seen him like this had been the first time. Back then I had been too shocked to observe him, but I could do that now.

I could tell that Paul was hesitant and careful around me noting how he didn't move from his place.

"Can I... pet you?" I asked him.

I took the lowering of his head as a sign for yes. When my hand touched the grey colored fur, I was surprised because of how soft it was. It wasn't coarse as I thought it would be.

"This is so weird, but really really cool," I told him considering that this was my first time being so close to him in his wolf form. "I just wish I could know what you're thinking." It felt strange knowing for sure that this giant wolf really was Paul, but we couldn't communicate like we normally did. "Should I bring over Edward and ask him to translate?"

A soft but low sounding growl erupted from the wolf before me.

"I'm just kidding."

He seemed to snort in response. Even in his wolf form I could see the dislike in his expression when I brought up Edward. It was so interesting to see the different expressions he could make. They all reminded me of Paul and gave me a reminder that this wolf wasn't just a normal _wolf_. It was a _shape-shifter_. It was _Paul_.

* * *

Alice had told our dad that her family was going on a camping trip for the weekend and that she wanted to stay home and host a sleepover instead. Our dad, who had gotten a good first impression of Alice, didn't hesitate for a second to allow us to accept the invitation. He had no idea that in fact, the Cullens were all going hunting and that Bella and Edward would be the only two at the house. As for me, I was going to stay at Paul's considering that his dad was gone for the weekend to visit his brother, Paul's uncle.

I spent a good amount of time picking out the things I needed for the weekend. I would need warm clothes. It had been decided that Edward and Bella would camp up in the mountains to hide her from the bloodthirsty newborns. Apparently I needed to be there too just in case Victoria went after me. However, I didn't think much of that. Victoria didn't care about me. She wanted my sister. The only problem I had was Amy.

I finished packing my things and went downstairs into the kitchen to grab something to eat. I heard my dad talking to my sister.

"-you definitely don't want to have to get married because you weren't...um...careful."

"What?"

"You know what I'm talking about. There are things you're going to want to think about if you're going to be physically intimate."

"Okay. Please, let's not have 'the talk.'"

"Woah. You two were having 'the talk'?" I asked as I opened the refrigerator. "Should I leave?"

"No, in fact, maybe you should stay," our dad said. "It's important that you girls know-"

"Mom already beat you to it like ten years ago," Bella interrupted him.

He looked at me and I nodded in confirmation as I took a bite out of the leftover sandwich. "Yeah," I said with my mouth full. "She's right. Well, more like three or four years ago. But yeah, same thing."

"Well, you two didn't have boyfriends back then."

"I'm sure things work the same way," Bella said.

"All right. So you and Edward are taking precautions and-"

"Okay, Dad. Please don't worry about that. Edward is old-school."

"Yeah, no kidding," I said earning a look from my twin.

"Old-school. Great. What is that? A code for something?" our dad asked.

Okay. He definitely didn't get it.

"Oh my God. No, Dad!" Bella exclaimed.

"Old-school basically means old-fashioned," I explained to him.

"Oh... So-"

"Yeah, I'm a virgin," Bella blurted before shutting her mouth.

"Ah! La la la la la. Don't need to hear that," he said as he covered his ears before quickly uncovering them when Bella was done talking. "Okay then. Well, good we covered that."

I held back my laughter as Bella ran up the stairs to escape. "Me too!"

"Really?" he asked as he turned to me. "He's... Old-school?" He used the new term he had just learned.

I nodded in response.

"Well, I'm liking Edward a little more now."

I quickly swallowed the last piece of the sandwich before throwing the carry-out box into the trash.

"So are you and Paul also taking precautions-"

"We've got it under control, Dad!" I yelled as I ran upstairs.

 _No pun intended,_ I thought. Not that I was planning on going on birth control, yet.

* * *

I found Bella waiting inside my room when I went upstairs. "Can you believe that just happened?" I asked almost in disbelief.

"No. That was so mortifying," Bella answered.

I nodded. "So are you ready for this weekend?"

Bella shook her head. "I can't believe this is really happening, that the newborns are actually coming. This is all just happening way too fast."

"I agree. I just can't wait until this fight with the newborns is over... And I hope everyone stays safe. I can't imagine what I would do if either you or Paul got hurt..."

"Listen, Olivia. Speaking of the fight, I need to clear something with you... You know how we'll be camping up in the mountains with Edward, right? Well, he'll be up there with us during the fight. I... I asked him to stay out of it. For me."

My eyebrows knitted together. "What? Bella... That's so... so not fair."

She looked at me in a way that she wanted me to clarify.

"Paul is going to fight. Hell, everyone's going to fight except for us: the humans. They're laying out their lives for you and you just decide to pull out Edward to keep him safe? That's a bit selfish. You shouldn't have done that. I mean, what about Paul?"

"You could ask him to do the same thing," she replied. "Tell him you don't want him to fight. He loves you. He would do that for you."

I shook my head. "But like I said, that would be a selfish thing to do. I don't want him to fight, but he has a duty. Don't you think Emily would want Sam to stay out of the fight too?"

Bella sighed. "Edward and I discussed this already so it's already been decided."

I sighed in frustration.

"Listen, Olivia. Edward-"

"Edward, Edward, Edward," I cut her off. "It's always about Edward. You love him. I understand that, but sometimes I wish you would think of something else other than him."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Bella asked as she went to close the door so our dad wouldn't hear our conversation.

"I'm trying to say that it seems like you're letting him control your life." I couldn't control myself from letting out all of the things that had boiled up inside me about her and Edward. "I'm not a big fan of Edward. Being with him made you keep secrets from me. You've been doing it ever since you met him. Well, until we came across Laurent in the woods. You probably wouldn't have even said anything if I hadn't been forced to find out."

"You have to understand that I couldn't tell you anything because I wanted to protect you. It's against the Volturi's rules for humans to know about vampires," she said. "Besides, if we're talking about keeping secrets from each other, you're not any different. Paul tells you everything about what's going on and you never tell me anything."

I thought back to the time Bella came home asking me if I had known about the whole deal with Leah, Emily, and Sam. She hadn't been angry, but surprised that I never brought it up. Bella could be a bit secretive, but I on the other hand would usually tell her everything.

"That's different," I said.

"How?" she asked.

I bit my lip not knowing what to say. "Your relationship with Edward isn't healthy," I stated.

Bella shook her head denying my words. "Our relationship is fine."

"Are you sure? He left you without anything to hang on to and you went into a depressed state for months. And then you flew out of the country to save him, brought him back, and like you never even broke up, you got back together. Everything you do is to match him and you're completely obsessed with being turned when you are a healthy human being. Please tell me that isn't normal."

"I've known Edward for a whole year. You've known Paul for like three months. Don't you think you're taking things too fast with him?" she retorted.

"Once again, that's different. Paul imprinted on me. We have a connection."

"Well so do I with Edward," Bella said. "Look, if we're going to start talking about unhealthy relationships, what about you? You're the one who's in danger. Paul has problems with his temper! He can be volatile. He could hurt you."

I shook my head. "No. You don't know him like I do."

"I saw first-hand how angry he got before he phased right in front of me. You need to believe me when I tell you that you have to be careful around him." It was her turn to reveal her bottled up feelings about him.

"That only happened because you slapped him. Paul would never hurt me," I said.

"Well, I guess you're just as blind as you think I am then."

I felt frustrated because Bella wouldn't listen to me, but I assumed she felt the same way. This conversation wasn't going to work out. We were just going to dig deeper into no solution. "Bella. Just... Get out of my room."

"Gladly," she said before storming out.

Growing up, Bella and I had had little to no fights. So what had happened just now made me feel uneasy.

I heard the soft sounds of nails clicking against the wooden floor. I saw the newest addition to our household entering my room. "At least you're on my side, right?" I asked as Gunner rubbed his nose against my leg.

* * *

I was grateful that my dad didn't notice how Bella and I weren't talking to each other as we left the house. It would add to the trouble if he had found out and stopped us from going over to Alice's 'sleepover.'

Paul's house was cozy and reminded me of Jacob's place. Unlike usual homes, there weren't any photos anywhere to be seen. I didn't question him about it. I understood that he wasn't too close with his dad and considering that his parents separated when he was just a young kid, he probably didn't have happy photos to share.

I followed him into his room which was surprisingly neat. It was obvious that he didn't come home often and that when he did, he only used his room to sleep in.

"It's so strange..." I trailed off as I snuggled into Paul's pillow.

"What is?"

"You guys are getting ready to fight an army of newborn vampires and the rest of the world has no idea that vampires even exist. It's just crazy."

Paul joined me on the bed. "I know," he said as he brought me into his strong arms.

I sighed. "Paul-"

"Liv-" he said at the same time. He smiled. "You go first."

"I love you, Paul."

His face turned serious at my sudden words.

"And I don't think I could live without you. I just- I want you to be safe."

I wondered if I could be like Bella and ask my boyfriend to stay out of the fight too, but I knew deep down that his help was needed. He had to fight.

He held my hand. "I'll come back to you. I promise I will." He reached up to touch my face and that was when I realized that tears were streaming down my cheeks. "Please don't cry. It hurts me to see you like this."

I nodded before using my own hands to wipe away my tears. I was glad I wasn't wearing any makeup. Paul and I loved each other, but we were still in our early stages of dating and I didn't want to risk looking like a raccoon in front of him.

"Don't you worry about a thing," he said to me.

"But what about Amy?"

"I won't let her lay a finger on you," he replied in all seriousness.

I nodded. I believed him. I pressed my lips to his and found myself lost in a gentle kiss. It tasted salty and I realized that it came from the tears that had fallen from my eyes.

"So um, do you have a condom this time?" I tried lightening up the mood. My own question caused me to laugh.

"That is the most romantic thing a girl has ever asked me."

I could tell even as he joked that he was observing me.

"Is there something else on your mind?" he asked.

"How did you know?" I asked although it wasn't one of those questions that needed answering. I sighed before revealing the truth. "Bella and I had an argument."

"That's not good," he said with amusement. "You'll be stuck with her in the tent tomorrow."

"That's why I asked Alice if she could have Edward bring a second tent."

Paul chuckled as he shook his head at my silliness.

"You know, I really wish I could just stay home with my dad. I feel like I'm being a burden and causing more trouble by having to be under protection," I revealed.

"You know we can't let you do that," Paul responded. "Amy could come for you and so could Victoria..."

"You're right," I sighed.

"So... Why did you two fight?" he asked, bringing me back the original conversation.

"She told me how she asked Edward to stay out of the fight and I told her that I thought it was selfish of her to do so. I ended up telling her what I don't like about Edward and well, we just argued." I decided to leave out the part about her warning me to be careful around Paul. It was too much of a sensitive topic for him.

As I told him about it, I couldn't help but think that I had been a little too harsh with my words. Bella and I were obviously both biased with our own situations. We had to be more understanding of each other, but it was difficult. I began to feel sorry about what I said to her. I wondered if she felt the same way.

My worries about reconciling with my sister quickly vanished as Paul pressed soft kisses down my neck. It was strange but being with Paul allowed me to forget every bad thing that had ever happened to me from the smallest to the biggest. Paul's presence had mentally healed me and with him beside me, I felt invincible.

My blouse and skirt were quickly displaced onto the carpet and I found myself waiting with anticipation as Paul's fingers lingered over the back of my bra.

I noticed him tensing up. "What's wrong, Paul?" I asked. "Do you... Not want this?" I bit my lip, unsure about how he would react. If I wasn't a virgin, I think I would've felt more confident, but considering that I had never been naked before in front of a guy, I was nervous and self-conscious.

I tried pulling myself up but was pinned onto the bed below him unable to move. His face was dangerously close to mine. "Don't say that again. Of course I want this. I've wanted you since the moment I imprinted on you." His words along with his deep voice sent thrilling chills down my spine.

"Then what's wrong?"

"Honestly, I'm scared..."

My breath caught in my throat when he said it. Paul was scared? About what?

"I'm scared that I'll lose control and hurt you. I think about this a lot. It gets worse every day."

Again, I was reminded of what Bella said to me. _"Paul has problems with his temper! He can be volatile. He could hurt you."_

I ignored her words. I believed in Paul. "I know that won't happen. You won't hurt me," I said with full confidence.

"How can you be so sure?" he said and his voice was nearly a whisper.

"Because I know you love me and I love you," I said holding his face in a gentle hold. "You are someone I can put all my trust into, so stop doubting yourself and start trusting yourself around me."

He looked at me capturing me with his dark brown eyes and I could truly see in that moment how much he cared about me. What had I done to deserve a love so great? He leaned down and brought me into another mind-blowing kiss. The night was blissful and everything felt amazing considering that it was my first time. Paul was experienced and it calmed me in the sense that he knew what to do. He would take care of me. In this exact moment I felt absolute happy, but there was a realization distracting me from completely relaxing. It was on my mind the whole night. He made love to me like tomorrow would be his last and that terrified me.

* * *

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* * *

 _**Author's Note**:_ _And that was chapter (lucky) seven! Woohoo!_ _Sorry for the long wait! School has been horrible so far. I really should study... lol. But anyway, ahhhhhhhh can I have a Paul in my life right now? I've been single for a long time and writing this made me realize it even more! Haha but there's nothing wrong with being single!_

 _Soooo Olivia just had sex for the first time (with Paul who obviously is more experienced in this field lol)! Sometimes I hear about how bad people's first times were and sometimes I hear the opposite. Personally speaking, I feel like if you're prepared, ready, and with the right person, it can truly be a good experience the first time. With that being said, never do anything because you feel like you have to. Do it because you want to!_

 _To those of you who left reviews, thank you for spending the time to write one! I'm very grateful because even if it's a short one, it influences me to write more. Also, thank you to those users who have recently followed/favorited this fanfic. Welcome aboard! I just want to say thanks for stopping by to read my story (in general)._

 _Btw guys, this story has 12,000+ views! That's pretty crazy. I had no idea about that... I'm assuming many of those readers were guests or possibly users who read and left my story lol (because it wasn't good enough T_T). Anyway, whether you're a guest or not, please leave a REVIEW! It really really helps :)_

 _Before I end this, there's one more thing I want to say. I understand how when an author doesn't update frequently, it's hard to go back to reading a story so I'm really glad to see you guys coming back to read more. Thank you once again! I seriously cannot believe that I wrote 40,000+ words for this story so far. I've never gone so far with a fanfic so this is pretty exciting to me._

 _All righty, then. See you all next time!_

 _-Jane_


	8. Paul's Loss

Chapter 8: Paul's Loss

I hadn't had the time to worry about what would change between Paul and I after what we did the previous night, but I never even had to. Nothing much changed other than the feeling that there weren't any more barriers between us. There was nothing more to hide. To a high school girl like me, this should've been somewhat worrisome since I was constantly questioning myself about whether or not I was "rushing" into something I couldn't handle. However, to me, the pace that our relationship was taking place felt normal and I was comfortable with it no matter what other people thought.

Last night had been a lot better than I had expected it to be. Maybe it was because Paul was experienced. My first time wasn't bad at all. There was some discomfort, but no pain. No blood either, which surprised me. I had read somewhere in an article before that every girl's experience of first time sex varied so my case was just as normal as any different one, but after being worried about pain and blood since I had read about it, I was surprised by the different outcome. Paul had obviously put more care into being slow and gentle with me, but I could tell that it was just as enjoyable for him as it was for me.

Paul seemed to be more confident around me after our actions of the previous night, not in an arrogant way or anything. He just appeared more comfortable and relaxed in front of me. I could tell that he trusted himself now. He trusted that he wouldn't be a danger to me. I knew that somewhere in the corner of his mind he still worried that he would accidentally lose his temper in front of me, but we both knew that his control was getting better. Often I forgot how he had an infamous reputation for his temper because when he was with me, he was totally calm.

I remembered it was just a few days ago when I had almost lost my virginity in Paul's truck after leaving the graduation party hosted at the house of the Cullens. He hadn't seemed worried that he would accidentally hurt me then. To think of it, Paul hadn't seemed scared at all, or maybe he had pretended like he wasn't for my sake. I wondered what made him change his mind. Maybe it was because the approaching battle against the newborn army reminded him that unlike him, I was fragile. I was just a plain human being with no special abilities. Although the bond that Paul and I shared was special, what I felt for him could never be compared to what he felt for me. It took me a while to truly understand it, but I finally did. As his imprintee, I was the one thing in his life that meant the most to him. Even if I loved him, his side of the bond was stronger than my part and my love for him could never equal the love he had for me. In that sense, imprinting didn't seem fair. I didn't know if I deserved to be so meaningful to him, but fate had brought us together.

Each and every day the connection that Paul and I had was growing stronger. It was an indescribable feeling, but it made me the happiest girl in the world. However, just as much as I loved him, the small voice inside my head kept reminding me that if Paul ever died, I wouldn't know how to deal with the loss. This brought me back to the scary thoughts of what would happen when the newborns came.

I was startled out of my own thoughts when I felt a drop of water sliding down my cheek. My hand instinctively reached up to touch it. It was then I realized that I had been crying. Not wanting to receive any unnecessary attention from Paul when he came into my tent, I quickly wiped my face. I didn't want to worry him.

Just as I had requested, there were two different tents set up when we got to the top of the mountain. Bella and I still weren't on talking terms nor were we glancing in each other's way. I knew she had been around the forest spreading her scent with her blood when I saw the bandage over her hand. I wanted to ask her if she was okay, but I kept quiet. We were way too stubborn for our own good and it was a fault that we both shared. It was hard to get ourselves to apologize to each other, especially when we both strongly believed that one of us was right and the other was wrong.

The strange thing was that Paul wasn't giving Edward any dirty looks. I noticed that his negative view of vampires wasn't as strong as it was before, but that didn't mean he liked them either. Without warning, the zipper of my tent was pulled down and a shirtless Paul came in. I was supposed to be used to seeing him that way by now, but I still wasn't. It just wasn't normal to see a guy who was dressed to go to the beach standing in the middle of a snowstorm unaffected by the cold.

"Liv, are you doing okay?" was the first thing he asked as he zipped up the tent with ease. "I heard your teeth chattering all the way from the meadow."

A silly smile appeared on my face before it quickly went away. It was painful to smile. "Yeah. I'm o-okay, but my b-body is s-starting to f-feel numb. It's f-freezing in h-here." My teeth chattered furiously as I spoke.

He laid down next to me and brought me into his hold. I turned to my side to lean into him. As I leaned against his chest, I could feel the heat radiating off his skin and onto mine. It felt nice and it was soothing the headache that I had from the cold weather.

I was once again brought back to being dumbfounded by Paul's shirtless state. Even if his body temperature was 108 degrees and it made sense that he could withstand the cold, it was always strange to see him or any of the pack members this way.

"You feel like ice against my skin." I could hear the worry in his voice.

"Just hold me close. I'll be okay."

He sighed. "I wish you didn't have to go through any of this. If Bella hadn't met the Cullen…"

I noticed how he didn't call Edward a leech or bloodsucker but by his last name. He wasn't exactly acceptive of vampires yet, but he was learning to endure their presence.

"Do you think my dad will be okay?" I changed the topic. It wasn't because anything Bella related was off the subject, it was because I really was concerned for my dad. He was left alone. What if one of the newborns got to him?

"Collin and Brady are remaining behind. They'll keep an eye on Charlie," Paul said mentioning the newest and youngest editions to the pack. "Don't worry too much. He's not the target. Victoria wants Bella and… Amy wants you." His arm brought me closer to his body once he noticed the tension in me. "Don't be scared. I won't let her get to you."

Once again, I was worried. I was glad to know that Paul loved me and cared enough to protect me against anything, but I didn't want him to endanger himself for me. I kept my mouth shut though. I didn't know what would happen tomorrow and for all I knew, tonight would be the last night of us together. I didn't want to argue with him or raise concerns.

"Paul, I love you. You know that, right?" I reached for his hand and gave it a light squeeze. "You make me happy and you're the best thing that has ever happened to me. I want you to know that."

"Liv," he said my name and I closed my eyes trying to somehow memorize how it sounded. "Of course I know that. I'm yours just as you're mine. Forever. Now enough with the sappiness. You need to rest. Go to sleep."

And there was the Paul I knew, the one who preferred not to get all sentimental so instead threw in a joke to lighten the mood. Although it was late, I couldn't fall asleep because of how cold it was. However, with Paul's warm body heating me up, my eyes eventually began to feel sleepy. The only sounds I could hear were Paul's soft breathing and the strong wind pushing against the tent. Eventually, sleep took over me.

* * *

I found myself gasping out loud as my eyes opened in shock. Maybe it was the stress about something bad happening to Paul that was building up inside me. I wasn't sure exactly, but I woke up so suddenly. I sat up in the empty tent.

 _Where did Paul go?_

I pulled down the zipper and took a step onto the white ground. I momentarily was blinded by the brightness of the outside world. Everything was covered in snow: the result of the snowstorm over the night.

I saw Seth in his human form with his back to me. He turned around as I stepped closer to him. "Hey, Liv!" His voice sounded cheerful regardless of the situation.

"Hey. Where's Paul?"

"He uh, left already. He said he wanted to go before you woke up. Something about not being able to leave you if you were awake. . ."

I nodded in understanding. However, my heart clenched in fear as I worried for the worst to happen. The newborns weren't even here yet, but I was already thinking negatively.

"You know, I wish they'd let me join them. I could actually be of help! It sucks missing out on the fight."

"Seth, don't say that," I said sternly.

"Right. Sorry," he quickly said looking apologetic. "Today, my job is to keep you and Bella safe."

"Olivia," Bella's voice cut the air. "I . . . I need to talk to you."

Seth looked between the two of us before quickly making his exit. Well, his observation skills were certainly on point. _No, don't leave me with her,_ I thought.

"What is it?" I asked with a sigh.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I really am. I thought about it and you said those things I didn't want to hear only because you care about me. I got defensive and blocked you out. I'm not . . . apologizing to tell you that I agree with you, but to tell you that I'm grateful that you worry about me. I know you may not think my relationship with Edward is . . . good, but I love him and he makes me happy."

"Bella," I began, "I admit that I'm worried about you being with him, but I don't want to force you out of a relationship either. I guess . . . I'm okay as long as I know that you're okay."

She nodded. "I _am_ okay. Well, maybe not right now exactly. But once this is all over, I will be. We're all going to be okay. We're going to be happy."

"I hope so," I said. "Come here."

We shared a hug and it was a nice relief to know that we were on speaking terms again. It was natural for us to resolve our issues as soon as they happened. We couldn't stay apart for too long and that was what made us twins.

"Olivia, there's one more thing I need to tell you."

"Yeah?"

"Edward asked me to marry him . . ."

My jaw dropped, but no words would come out. I took a deep breath before a slow laugh came out. "Ha. Ha. Very funny," I said sarcastically.

Her expression didn't change. "I'm being serious."

"You are?! Well, what did you say?" I demanded to know. Surely, she hadn't agreed. She had just graduated high school a few days ago!

"I said yes."

 _Hold up._

"What?! Oh my God, Bella. You're freaking only eighteen. Oh, God. What is Dad going to say? What about Mom? Wait, she would probably get excited about this. But-"

"Olivia! You are getting way ahead of yourself."

" _I_ am?" I squeaked, my voice raised into a range I hadn't known I had before. " _You're_ the one who got engaged."

"Olivia, please. I need your support. Mom's not here and Char-Dad is . . . He's not going to take it too well I don't think."

"You're right about that," I told her before sighing. "I don't know if I'll get used to the idea of this, but I guess what's done is done. . . I'll persuade Dad when the time comes for you guys to tell him. Wait, when are you even planning on telling him?"

"Probably within this month."

"Okay . . . When are you planning for the wedding to be?"

"Before the end of the summer."

"This summer?" I asked for clarification. "Are you pregnant?"

"No!" Her face held embarrassment before she looked behind me. I turned around to see Edward approaching us. What was the point in speaking in private when everything we said could be heard anyway?

"So I hear you asked my sister to marry you," I said with a raised eyebrow at my future brother-in-law.

"You're marrying him?" an angry voice broke the cold air.

Great. Jacob had heard. Just to stab his already wounded heart even more.

"Jake! Stop Jake!" Bella yelled as she chased after him leaving Edward and I alone.

I heard a rustling noise before Seth reappeared but in his wolf form this time. "Well, I guess I'll just-uh hang with Seth for a bit. . ." I awkwardly said before sliding away. "You have the best timing ever," I told Seth as I gave his sandy colored fur a nice long pat. It seemed like his wolf was actually smiling at me in response.

Moments later, I saw that Bella and Edward were standing together again. "It's time," Edward stated.

I noticed how guilty my twin looked and had to ask. "What happened?"

"I kissed Jacob," she mumbled.

My eyes grew wide. She kissed Jacob? I felt bad for Edward for the first time ever, but then I also felt bad for Jacob and also my sister for being confused about her feelings. I didn't know what being in a love triangle felt like, but it was probably an extremely difficult situation. I tried to think about other things since Edward could read my mind. I didn't want him to be distracted by Bella and Jacob when our lives were at risk. However, he seemed focused on something else and the fact that my mind was rambling didn't bother him.

"Jacob just got there - he's good," he stated.

Oh, so he was focusing on the battle.

I bit my lip before asking, "Edward, what about . . . What about Paul?"

After a moment of silence which felt like forever, he answered. "He's doing well."

I felt like I could finally breathe again.

Suddenly, my sister and I were being pushed behind as Edward took a defensive stance. "She's close. I can hear her thoughts. She saw we weren't there but she caught my scent. She knew I'd be here. She knew Alice would be too busy to see her decide."

"Victoria found us," Bella gasped.

"And she's not alone. . ." Edward added.

Without warning, a red eyed vampire stepped out from the trees. It was frightening how quiet his movements were. Taking a look at him, I immediately recognized him as the missing guy: Riley Biers.

"Riley. Listen to me. Victoria is using you to distract me. She knows I'll kill you."

Riley seemed to hesitate for a moment at Edward's use of his name.

"Actually, she's glad she won't have to deal with you anymore," Edward added.

A beautiful looking curly redhead emerged from the woods and I knew that this was the Victoria that I had been constantly hearing about. "Don't listen to him, Riley. I told you about his mind tricks," she said manipulatively.

"I can read her mind. That's how I know what she thinks of you. How I know she doesn't love you."

"He's lying," she said sharply.

"Her sole purpose for creating you and this army was to avenge her true mate, James. That's all she cares about. Not you."

It was now Victoria's turn to sway Riley back. "There's only you. You know that," she said softly.

"Think about it. You're from Forks, you know the area. That's why she picked you. She's using you like she's using the rest of them."

"Riley, don't let him do this to us. I love you."

There was a long pause and during it, his face was unreadable. I felt my heart pounding furiously against my chest as it felt like waiting forever. Suddenly, his eyes became determined. He was determined to kill. "You're dead," he said as he charged forward.

Before he could reach any of us, Seth leaped into the air and took a chunk out of Riley's hand catching him completely off guard. Riley began screaming in pain, but Victoria didn't seem to care. She took off towards the trees, but Edward knocked them down forcing her to face him. A fight broke out and it was hard to keep up with them as they moved around in speeds that weren't human.

A cool breeze hit my back before I felt a presence behind me.

"Olivia, behind you!" Bella screamed, but it was already too late.

"Victoria promised me that once she had her newborn army together that I could have you all for myself," a melodic voice said. "Well, now here I am to take my prize."

Before I could even register who it was, I felt myself being dragged away. In less than a second, I was in a different part of the mountains. I trembled in fear as my eyes focused on the one vampire that Paul had promised would never lay a finger on me.

A desperate howl erupted and echoed before a few other howls were vocalized. "Lovely," Amy said with a smirk. "I can expect Paul to be here very very soon." The way she spoke haunted me.

"What is it that you want from me?" I cried. "Why are you doing this?" I had to try and drag out the time if I wanted to survive. In a split second she was right in front of me causing me to gasp in fear and scramble back.

" _Why?_ Because I want Paul to suffer. He used to treat me like I was something to fuck and throw away when he was all done with me. He treated me like trash. But then you came along. I don't know what is so special about you, but you changed him. You've got him wrapped around your little finger. He treats you with respect, he cares about you, and he loves you." She let out a noise of disgust. " _I_ loved him, but he never looked at me like I've seen him look at you. And that, is why I despise you, bitch."

"You're insane," I said with a glare. "And pure evil."

"I know you're trying to be brave, but I can hear how fast your little human heart is pounding."

Had she not been human a few months ago?

Before I could come up with something to say, there was a low growling noise and our attention was turned to the sandy colored wolf that appeared. He showed his sharp teeth as a warning.

All of a sudden, Amy moved behind me and my neck felt cold as she pulled my hair aside to expose my skin. "Don't come any closer! I'll bite her if you take another step or better yet, I'll snap her neck. Just like that she'll be dead."

Seth stopped in his tracks watching with caution. He didn't seem to know what to do.

"Amy!" Paul's booming voice called out as he appeared in his human form, the only clothes he had on being his cut-off shorts. "Calm down and let her go. I'll give you what you want."

"And what might that be?" she asked.

"Me," he said in a low voice. He looked confident, but I could still see the alarm in his eyes.

She cackled. "You know, at first, all of my anger was pointed at your little girlfriend. But I thought about it a lot and the only person I should be angry at is you, Paul. So what else do I do other than to hurt someone dear to you? You may not admit it, but I know you love your father. Or should I say loved? He's dead now. I've finally taken from you just as you've taken from me. Fair is fair."

I was horrified. Was this true? Paul and his father hadn't been on the greatest terms, but they had still been father and son. Paul had truly cared for him. He couldn't be dead.

"Stop lying. If you're trying to manipulate me, then it's not working. He isn't even in the area."

"Hm. He went to visit his brother, right?" Amy asked. Her crimson red eyes suddenly held excitement. "'Hi, Paul. I'm here with your Uncle Gray. I'll be back on Sunday. Stay out of trouble, son.' Do you remember that text? Because I sent it to you right after I killed him. I drained him dry of blood and let me tell you, it was so satisfying. It's a shame you didn't get to see it happening. At least now you can watch as I rip apart your precious girlfriend into pieces."

I could see Paul's body shaking. He closed his eyes and when he opened them again, he stopped. "You said that you're angry at me. You hate _me_ , so kill _me_ instead," Paul challenged. Through his hard expression, I noticed there was something else going on inside his mind.

I was there looking at Paul one second and then the next second, I was laying on the snow gasping in pain. My head was spinning and I felt woozy.

Amy's shrill voice hurt my ears as she screamed. "Get off me, mutt!" It was then I realized that Seth had snuck up on her and attacked her from behind.

"Hurry, Seth! Grab Carlisle," I heard Paul saying after a moment and from being so lightheaded, I couldn't even make a big deal that he had actually called a Cullen by his first name.

"Paul," I called out for him. I sounded so weak.

"Liv, I'm right here," I felt him grabbing my hand. "Just hold on for me, okay?" I heard the panic in his voice.

"Amy. What happened to Amy? Is she-"

"Shh," he stopped me from talking. "She's gone. Don't you worry-" He paused before cursing under his breath like he realized something bad had happened.

"Paul, please move over so I can help her," another voice said. "Tell me what happened."

"She's been bitten. Sh-she's going to turn," Paul's voice sounded disoriented.

"No. The bite looks clean enough," Carlisle said. "I can suck the venom out of her blood and prevent her from changing."

"What?! No! You'll just end up killing her."

"It worked with Bella under worse circumstances, it will work for Olivia. The rest of her body is uninjured so there is less risk. We don't have much time. I need your permission fast before the venom spreads further."

"Fine," Paul said, his teeth clenched. "Just do it."

"Press her down so she doesn't move."

Cool lips made contact with my neck and my body struggled to move away as the place I was bitten started to burn. However, I couldn't move. I was held under a hold that was too strong to resist.

"It's out. Take her to the clinic inside my home. I will treat her there."

"Is she-"

"She's losing consciousness from the loss of blood, but with the proper care she'll be all right."

"Let me through. I need to see her. Olivia!" I heard Bella's voice which was distinctive from the rest. I wanted to respond to her and tell her that I was okay, but I had no strength. Slowly the voices faded away and the world turned black.

* * *

 _**Replies to Review**:_

Lady of Sign: _I'm really glad to hear you're liking this story! Thank you so much._

Grace: _Olivia was so surprised by Edward's proposal to Bella lol. I was nervous about portraying Paul's character so I'm relieved to hear that you like how he's written in my story. Thank you for reviewing!_

LoveFiction2016: _Thanks for reading!_

Guest: _Thank you so much!_

TwilightIsLife: _Haha yes, Paul did use protection! It wasn't specified in my story, but he did! Since I am following the original story line, I don't think I'll be taking the route of making Olivia pregnant! Maybe in the future, but not yet. Thank you so much for the support. It means a lot! :) I had a slump last year, but I'm slowly getting better with the studying._

Taffyrose: _Wow, thank you!_

Phan123: _Thank you so much for the nice review! I really appreciate it!_

Beigarciaaa: _It's hard to imagine writing chapters set in Breaking Dawn at the moment (it seems so far away), but when I think about, I'm almost there! It's very exciting! Thank you so much for reading._

Gia: _Thank you for reading!_

SuessellaHorseyLover: _Thank you so much!_

LegendsOfTime: _Thank you so much for the interest in my story. I'm really glad and happy that you're liking the Paul/OC (Olivia) pairing!_

* * *

 _**Author's Note**:_ _Thank you for waiting patiently for this new chapter! If you are curious about my life update, I did pretty well in the recent winter semester (so much better than in the fall). I'm definitely in a much happier mood :) I'm currently taking a summer class and I'm also getting ready for applying to graduate school in a few months. With that said I don't know when my next update will be, but I will always try writing whenever I have time, like I've said before._

 _The next chapter is going to be in Paul's p.o.v! I'm not sure yet if the whole thing is going to be that way or only a portion. I've never written in a male character's point of view so I'm a bit nervous about how I'm going to attempt it (especially since Paul isn't a character that I've created), but I'll try my best to get it to be as authentic as I can!_

 _Writing this chapter was really hard. I think I'm starting to get writer's block. Either that, or I just suck at writing scenes with action in them lol._

 _Btw, I sort of had to read over my story from the beginning to catch up on where I left off previously and I noticed that I didn't really get into too much detail about Paul and Olivia's relationship as much as I wish I had done. Thankfully, their fast paced relationship can be explained by Paul imprinting on Olivia so it's not too "fast," but I still feel a bit unsure about how I've written the earlier chapters. Hopefully it's okay the way it is. I might rewrite the chapters in the future, but I guess for now I will leave them this way._

 _Thanks for stopping by. Please review and I'll talk to you in the next one!_

 _-Jane_


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